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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Genetic Improvement for Fruits & Vegetables Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #366702
Research Project: Potato and Other Solanaceous Crop Improvement and Disease Management

Location: Genetic Improvement for Fruits & Vegetables Laboratory

Title: Comparative evaluation of the effects of gibberellic acid concentrations on dormancy break in tubers of solanum chacoense

Author
item CHRISTENSEN, CHRISTIAN - University Of Florida
item ZOTARELLI, LINCOLN - University Of Florida
item HAYNES, KATHLEEN - Retired ARS Employee
item KELLY, CHARLES - University Of Florida

Submitted to: HortTechnology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/28/2019
Publication Date: 12/5/2019
Citation: Christensen, C.T., Zotarelli, L., Haynes, K.G., Kelly, C.E. 2019. Solanum chacoense to Comparative evaluation of the effects of gibberellic acid concentrations on dormancy break in tubers of solanum chacoense. HortTechnology. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTTECH04448-19.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTTECH04448-19

Interpretive Summary: Gibberrelic acid has been utilized to break tuber dormancy in commercial potatoes but there is limited information available on treatments to use to break tuber dormancy in wild potatoes. In this study, the effect of different concentrations of gibberrelic acid, different treatment durations, and effect of tuber size on breaking tuber dormancy were investigated in four accessions of a wild species currently being utilized in breeding efforts to improve nitrogen uptake efficiency. The wild species accessions varied greatly in their response to these treatments and no one treatment could be recommended for breaking dormancy in all four of these accessions. This information will be valuable for plant breeders utilizing wild potatoes in breeding programs to improve disease resistance and tuber quality traits in cultivated potato.

Technical Abstract: Solanum chacoense (chc) is a wild relative of potato of interest for a number of desirable traits but exhibits variation in tuber dormancy across accessions. The objective of this study was to determine an appropriate gibberellic acid (GA3) and soak time treatment to encourage sprout development across four accessions of chc (A, B, C and D). Twelve treatments were created by utilizing four concentrations of GA3 (0, 50, 100, and 150 µg ml-1) across three soak periods (5, 45, and 90 min). Small (average weight of 1.4 g), medium (2.6 g) and large-sized (5.6 g) tubers were distributed among all treatments. Percentage tubers sprouted, days to sprouting, sprout length and sprout number were analyzed to determine the effectiveness of GA treatments on dormancy breaking. GA3 concentrations 50, 100, and 150 µg ml-1 broke dormancy within accessions B and C. None of the tested treatments were effective in breaking dormancy in accession D within 46 days after treatment. Accession A showed a weaker dormancy thus producing a similar percentage of sprouted tubers across all GA treatments. Soak time had no significant effect on all parameters measured. Larger tubers produced greater sprout numbers and percentage of sprouted tubers. Soaking tubers in 50 µg ml-1 of GA3 may be an effective treatment for chc accessions with mild dormancy, while alternative methods to break dormancy may be required for chc accessions with a stronger dormancy.