Author
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Lulai, Edward |
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Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter Publication Acceptance Date: 8/25/2006 Publication Date: 7/17/2007 Citation: Lulai, E.C. 2007. Skin-set, Wound-Healing, and Related Defects. In: Vreugdenhil, D., Bradshaw, J., Gebhardt, C., Govers, F., MacKerron, D.K.L., Taylor, M.A., Ross, H.A. Potato Biology and Biotechnology: Advances and Perspectives. 1st Edition. Amsterdam. Elsevier. p. 471-500. Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: The physiology and biochemistry of resistance and susceptibility to tuber skinning/excoriation wounds, wound-healing and wound-related defects are of global importance because of the magnitude of the resulting food and financial losses. Wound related losses are difficult to determine because of the large range of associated infections, bruise defects, water vapor loss and various quality issues. Collectively, minor to serious wounding/bruising can average 40%, resulting in huge financial losses and the creation of contracts with incentives to reduce these wound-related losses. Many rot type diseases found in stored potatoes gain entry through wounds that did not heal quickly. This chapter is intended to cover important physiological and biochemical research that impacts these costly wound related issues. Skinning wounds are difficult to control during harvest unless the tuber periderm has matured so that the skin is set and resistant to excoriation. The physiology of tuber skin-set, i.e. resistance to skinning/excoriation injury, is only beginning to be studied. The structure of tuber periderm and maturational changes that result in resistance to tuber skinning injury are of central importance in developing physiological approaches to enhance skin-set and reduce associated losses; the current status of this research area is summarized. The process of wound-induced suberization to heal skinned, cut, and so called bruised areas covers a vast research plane. The induction and regulation of suberization, composition, biosynthetic pathways and macromolecular assembly, and molecular structure of suberin are not fully known. Consequently, suberin is somewhat of an enigma that is often misunderstood and poorly described in conjunction with wound-healing and wound-periderm development; the plane of suberin research is summarized including what is currently considered appropriate terminology and description of suberin. Various wound-related defects are described and discussed. |
