Multiple Signaling Pathways Control Tuber Induction in Potato

作者：Stephen Derek Jackson · 发表于：PLANT PHYSIOLOGY · 年份：1999 · DOI：10.1104/pp.119.1.1 · 被引用次数：348 · 研究领域：Potato Plant Research、Plant Pathogens and Resistance、Plant Reproductive Biology

Potatoes (tubers of Solanum tuberosum) are grown and eaten in more countries than any other crop, and in the global economy they are the fourth most important crop after the three cereals maize, rice, and wheat. Therefore, research into potato tuber initiation and development, which enables our understanding and possible manipulation of these processes, is of great relevance. In addition to improving the yield and quality of potato harvests and increasing resistance to pathogen infection, research is also directed at improving the nutritional content of the tuber, and “pharming” which is removing the starch in the potato tuber and instead producing organic compounds such as proteins that are too expensive or cannot be produced in bacterial or yeast culture systems. Research on potatoes has many advantages in that they are easily transformable and therefore amenable to genetic manipulation, and can be propagated rapidly both in tissue culture and through cuttings. Also, microtubers can be induced to form in tissue culture and are used in experimental systems in some laboratories. Other laboratories have used stem cuttings as small models of the whole plant. Last but not least, the potato is very closely related to the tomato, for which there is a good genetic map. The main drawback to the use of potatoes in research is the fact that most potato species are polyploid, which means that classical genetic experiments cannot be performed. Solanum demissum plants grown in noninducin...