Morphology and tuber formation of in-vitro-grown potato plants harboring the yeast invertase gene and/or the rolC gene

Abstract

Growth and tuber formation of transgenic potato plants (Solanum tuberosum cv. Désirée) harboring the yeast invertase gene and the rolC gene individually or in combination under the transcriptional control of the patatin promoter were investigated under different conditions in vitro. Plants expressing only the invertase gene were morphologically similar to control plants. rolC transgenic plants had an increased tiller number, improved root growth, and a higher total biomass. Tuber formation and growth were altered by the introduced transgenes. The sucrose requirement to induce tubers was shifted to lower or higher concentrations for invertase- or rolC-expressing clones, respectively. In addition, rolC plants formed tubers of altered morphology. A comparison with soil-grown plants showed that morphological parameters can be predicted to some extent from in vitro studies, while for reliable prescreening of parameters concerning tuber formation and growth, an optimization of currently used protocols is necessary.