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X-Ray CT Phenotyping Reveals Bi-Phasic Growth Phases of Potato Tubers Exposed to Combined Abiotic Stress.

ABSTRACT: As a consequence of climate change, heat waves in combination with extended drought periods will be an increasing threat to crop yield. Therefore, breeding stress tolerant crop plants is an urgent need. Breeding for stress tolerance has benefited from large scale phenotyping, enabling non-invasive, continuous monitoring of plant growth. In case of potato, this is compromised by the fact that tubers grow belowground, making phenotyping of tuber development a challenging task. To determine the growth dynamics of tubers before, during and after stress treatment is nearly impossible with traditional destructive harvesting approaches. In contrast, X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) offers the opportunity to access belowground growth processes. In this study, potato tuber development from initiation until harvest was monitored by CT analysis for five different genotypes under stress conditions. Tuber growth was monitored three times per week via CT analysis. Stress treatment was started when all plants exhibited detectable tubers. Combined heat and drought stress was applied by increasing growth temperature for 2 weeks and simultaneously decreasing daily water supply. CT analysis revealed that tuber growth is inhibited under stress within a week and can resume after the stress has been terminated. After cessation of stress, tubers started growing again and were only slightly and insignificantly smaller than control tubers at the end of the experimental period. These growth characteristics were accompanied by corresponding changes in gene expression and activity of enzymes relevant for starch metabolism which is the driving force for tuber growth. Gene expression and activity of Sucrose Synthase (SuSy) reaffirmed the detrimental impact of the stress on starch biosynthesis. Perception of the stress treatment by the tubers was confirmed by gene expression analysis of potential stress marker genes whose applicability for potato tubers is further discussed. We established a semi-automatic imaging pipeline to analyze potato tuber delevopment in a medium thoughput (5 min per pot). The imaging pipeline presented here can be scaled up to be used in high-throughput phenotyping systems. However, the combination with automated data processing is the key to generate objective data accelerating breeding efforts to improve abiotic stress tolerance of potato genotypes.

SUBMITTER: Van Harsselaar JK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8042327 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:This is a study to characterize gene expression profiles in stored Russet Burbank potato tubers. Tubers were harvested from commercial fields in the central sands region of Wisconsin in the fall of 2006. The tubers were put into storage at 55 degrees F for preconditioning and wound healing. Shortly after the temperature of the storage bin began to decrease, uniform, healthy tubers were selected for use in this microarray analysis. Tubers were at 53.6 degrees F at this time, and pieces of starch-storing tissue were collected for use as the reference sample. Other tubers were moved to temperature-controlled lockers and these were cooled gradually to either 48 or 40 degrees F following industry standard procedures. The expectation was that tubers held at 48 degrees would not have a significant accumulation of glucose and fructose, but that tubers cooled to 40 degrees would undergo low temperature sweetening and accumulate glucose and fructose to a degree that is unsuitable for processing. Three weeks later, when the locker temperatures were 48 degrees F and 41.5 degrees F, tissue samples were collected for RNA analysis. After another three weeks, samples were collected from tubers at 48 degrees F and 40 degrees F. At that time some tubers were moved from the 48 degree locker to the 40 degree locker in order to see if gene expression changes observed as a result of gradual cooling are similar to those that occur following a sudden decrease in temperature. Three weeks later, samples were collected from tubers held at 48 degrees F, tubers held at 40 degrees F, and from the tubers that were moved from 48 to 40 degrees F. At this time another set of tubers was transferred from 48 degrees to 40 degrees. Three weeks later the last samples were harvested from tubers held at 48 degrees F, from tubers held at 48 degrees F and from tubers that were transferred three weeks prior from 48 to 40 degrees. RNA was isolated from tissue extracted from three tubers. Keywords: Reference design

Project description:Background and aimsThe three-dimensional distributions of mineral elements in potato tubers provide insight into their mechanisms of transport and deposition. Many of these minerals are essential to a healthy human diet, and characterizing their distribution within the potato tuber will guide the effective utilization of this staple foodstuff.MethodsThe variation in mineral composition within the tuber was determined in three dimensions, after determining the orientation of the harvested tuber in the soil. The freeze-dried tuber samples were analysed for minerals using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Minerals measured included those of nutritional significance to the plant and to human consumers, such as iron, zinc, copper, calcium, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium and sulphur.Key resultsThe concentrations of most minerals were higher in the skin than in the flesh of tubers. The potato skin contained about 17 % of total tuber zinc, 34 % of calcium and 55 % of iron. On a fresh weight basis, most minerals were higher in tuber flesh at the stem end than the bud end of the tuber. Potassium, however, displayed a gradient in the opposite direction. The concentrations of phosphorus, copper and calcium decreased from the periphery towards the centre of the tuber.ConclusionsThe distribution of minerals varies greatly within the potato tuber. Low concentrations of some minerals relative to those in leaves may be due to their low mobility in phloem, whereas high concentrations in the skin may reflect direct uptake from the soil across the periderm. In tuber flesh, different minerals show distinct patterns of distribution in the tuber, several being consistent with phloem unloading in the tuber and limited onward movement. These findings have implications both for understanding directed transport of minerals in plants to stem-derived storage organs and for the dietary implications of different food preparation methods for potato tubers.

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X-Ray CT Phenotyping Reveals Bi-Phasic Growth Phases of Potato Tubers Exposed to Combined Abiotic Stress.

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