Method for producing potato microtubers

Chemistry: molecular biology and microbiology – Plant cell or cell line – per se ; composition thereof;... – Culture – maintenance – or preservation techniques – per se

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435420, 47 58, 800200, C12N 500, A01C 100, A01G 100

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active

058540660

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is the national phase under 35 U.S.C. .sctn. 371 of PCT International Application No. PCT/JP96/00243 filed on Feb. 6, 1996, which designated the United States.


TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a method for producing potato microtubers (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "MT").


BACKGROUND ART

Conventional methods for producing potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) microtubers which have been widely employed comprise two steps i.e., a American Potato Journal 59:33-37; Hussey et al., (1984) Annals of Botany 53:565-578; and Estrada et al., (1986) Tissue and Organ Culture 7:3-10!. The shoot propagation step is a step in which virus-free potato plants are cultured in a medium with a low sugar concentration (1-3%) under light conditions to thereby propagates shoots. The tuber formation step is a step in which plants obtained in the shoot propagation step are cultured in a medium with a high sugar concentration (5-10%) under dark conditions (or under a low luminous intensity or short-day conditions) to thereby form tubers.
In order to promote tuberization, plant hormones such as cytokines have been usually added to media. For example, Wang et al. have added benzyladenine (BA) and Hussey et al. and Estrada et al. have added benzylaminopurine (BAP) and 2-chloroethyl trimethylammonium chloride (CCC) to the media.
According to these methods, however, the production efficiency of microtubers is low and the number of obtained microtubers is the same as or less than the number of plant materials cultured. Furthermore, the size of the thus obtained microtubers is fairly small. For example, in the method of Wang et al. which is frequently referred to as a method of mass-production of microtubers, only 48.6 microtubers totaling about 10 g (0.2-0.3 g/microtuber) were obtained per 100 plant materials used at the maximum. Further, a long period of about 4 months was needed for the culture. And, Estrada et al. obtained only 20.8 microtubers of about 5 mm in diameter (0.1-0.2 g) per 30 nodal cuttings of the potato plant materials used.
Since the production efficiency of the conventional microtuber production technology is low as described above, the production cost is high and this technology has not yet reached a practical level. Therefore, the microtuber production technology is now utilized only in limited uses such as the preservation or distribution of a germ plasm.


SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to provide a method for producing microtubers which are highly suitable for cultivation in the field easily and in large quantities.
The present inventor has studied the effects of various plant hormones and growth regulators upon the production of microtubers. As a result, it has been found that ethylene or 2-chloroethyl phosphonic acid (product name: Ethrel) which is an ethylene-generating agent increases the efficiency of microtuber production. Thus, the present invention has been achieved. Since ethylene and 2-chloroethyl phosphonic acid were believed to Physiol. 53:798-801; Mingo-Castel et al., (1976) Plant Physiol. 57:480-485; Hussey et al., (1984) Annals of Botany 53:565-578; and Wang et al., (1985) Potato Physiology, Chapter 15!, it was surprising that these substances give favorable effects upon tuberization.
The present invention relates to a method for producing potato microtubers comprising a first step wherein potato plants are cultured in a medium with a relatively low sugar concentration under a relatively large quantity of light irradiation per day and a second step wherein the resultant potato plants are cultured in a medium with a relatively high sugar concentration under a relatively small quantity of light irradiation per day, the culture in the first step being carried out in the presence of exogenous ethylene and the culture in the second step being carried out in the absence of exogenous ethylene.


BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a photograph showing the morphology of a potato plantlet cultured

REFERENCES:
patent: 5034327 (1991-07-01), Takayama et al.
patent: 5498541 (1996-03-01), Oka et al.
Estrada et al. (1986) Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Cultures 7:3-10.
Torres et al. (1972) Potato Res. 15, pp. 76-80.
Torres et al. (1973) Potato Res. 16 pp. 73-79.
Hussey et al., (1984) Annals of Botany 53, pp. 565-578.
Koller et al., (1988) American Potato Journal 65, pp. 528-534.
Mingo-Castel et al., (1974) Plant Physiol. 53, pp. 798-801.
Mingo-Castel et al. (1976) Plant Physiol. 57, pp. 480-485.
Perl et al. (1980) Plant Cell Reports 7, pp. 403-406.
Stallknecht et al. (1982) American Potato Journal: 59, pp. 17-32.
Wang et al. (1982) American Potato Journal 59, pp. 33-37.
P. H. Li (1985) Potato Physiology 15, pp. 503-577.

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