Azarian J. Agric.

VOL (4) ISSUE 2, 2017: 41-45

Azarian Journal of Agriculture

www.azarianjournals.ir Azarian Journals
Research article ISSN:2383-4420

Performance of microtuber derived from in vitro plantlets of potato varieties on sprout

attributes in relation to its weight
Md. Dulal Sarkar1 *, Md. Sadek Hossain2, Md. Mahabubul Haque3, Md. Rezaul Karim Talukder4, Md.
Quamruzzaman5, Rojobi Nahar Rojoni6

Article Info ABSTRACT

The present work was conducted to evaluate the varietal performance of three potato
Accepted:
varieties namely- Asterix, Granola and Diamant with different microtubers weights of
8 April 2017
>500 mg, 250-500 mg and <250 mg on sprout characters. The variety Granola showed
longer dormancy period (30.33 days) in the case of less weight microtuber and it was
Keywords: decreasing the rate with increasing of microtuber weight in all varieties. The variety
Dormancy period, Diamant produced slightly more sprout per microtuber for all weights while the variety
physiological state, Asterix showed higher number of sprout per microtuber by >500 mg. Asterix had
microtuber size significantly longer sprouts (28.43 mm) than other two varieties and the trend of the
length of sprout was decreased with the decrease of microtuber weight. The larger
microtubers (>500 mg) of the variety Diamant and Asterix tended to have higher values
on fresh weight of sprouts and sprout mass per unit of sprout length than Granola
variety.

INTRODUCTION1 can minimize this problem. In recent years,

alternative seed production program has been

I n Bangladesh, potato (Solanum tuberosum L.)

mainly is a winter vegetable crop. Microtuber
induction and development of Bangladeshi
potato cultivars protocols are needed for their
growth and yield efficiency study compare to other
developed in which the first multiplication steps are
speeded up by using in vitro plantlets (Roca et al.
1978; Hussey and Stacey 1981 and Wattimena et
al. 1983), microtubers (Hussey and Stacey 1984;
Rosell et al. 1987 and Forti et al. 1992), and
propagules for seed tuber production. Utilization of minitubers (Struik and Lommen 1990).
microtubers for the production of seed tuber is Microtubers are particularly convenient for
becoming an important technique (Zakaria et al. handling, storage, and transportation of germplasm
2008). Bangladesh Agricultural Development and for the development of disease-free materials
Corporation providing only 8% of quality seed (Hussey and Stacey 1984 and Wang and Hu 1982).
tuber for the country (Dey 2001). To meet up this Storage environment should be considered for
gap, quality microtuber through micropropagation microtubers because the storability regulates their
future use. Microtubers in different grades have
1
Department of Horticulture, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural
different dormancy requirements and differ widely
University, Dhaka-1207, Bangladesh. in relative growth potential and productivity.
2
Seed Distribution Division, Bangladesh Agricultural Dormancy period is influenced by the variety,
Development Corporation, Dhaka, Bangladesh. maturity of tuber and environmental conditions that
3
Farm Division, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute,
Gazipur, Bangladesh.
prevail during the growth and storage conditions
4
Tissue Culture Laboratory, Bangladesh Agricultural (Beukema and Van der Zaag 1990 and Vreugdenhil
Development Corporation, Bangladesh. 2007). During the rest period, field-grown potato
5
Deaprtment of Agronomy, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural tubers or in vitro microtubers or greenhouse-grown
University, Dhaka-1207, Bangladesh.
6
Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection, Ministry of
minitubers cannot be induced to sprout even under
Commerce, Dhaka, Bangladesh. optimal environmental conditions and it is of 5-10
*Email: dulalsau_121@yahoo.com weeks duration in different cultivars (Cho et al.
1983). Microtubers dormancy also influenced by its
size and time of harvest (Leclerc et al. 1995). It is
important to break tuber dormancy for seed potato
multiplication, rapid post-harvest disease testing,

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Sarkar et al. Vol 4 Issue (2):41-45

and early production in the field or greenhouse. medium based on MS medium (Murashige and
Genotypic diversity, tuber grades, and storage Skoog 1962) supplemented with 10 mg l-1
environment might have a potential impact on benzyladenine (BA) and different concentrations of
dormancy of microtuber as well as sprouting sucrose (0, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14%). Then the
beheaviours. Although there are some protocols for microtuber induction cultures were incubated in the
in vitro microtuberization, there is also lack of dark at 20 0C (Naik and Sarker 1997). All cultures
information regarding their storage performance in Erlenmeyer flask were closed with a cotton cap.
according to size especially for Bangladeshi potato
cultivars. Considering above facts, the study was Treatments of the experiment
undertaken to evaluate the effective microtuber
grades and varietal potentiality to enhance The experiment having three potato varieties
sprouting of microtubers. viz. Asterix, Granola and Diamant and, microtuber
weighted as >500 mg, 250-500 mg and <250 mg.
MATERIALS AND METHODS Graded fresh microtuber that had been cold-stored
Experimental site at 4-5 0C for 6 weeks. Sprouting was monitored
every 2 days interval. For the experiment, a
The experiment was conducted at Tissue sample size of 10 microtubers of each grade was
Culture Laboratory in the controlled environments used for each treatment.
during the period of September 2010 to February
2011. Data collection

In vitro multiplication of plantlets The data were collected on dormancy period,

an average number of sprouts microtuber-1, sprout
Diseases free in vitro plantlets of three potato length, fresh weight and sprout mass unit-1 length
varieties namely- Asterix, Granola, and Diamant of microtuber. Measuring dormancy period:
were collected from Bangladesh Agricultural Microtubers were considered sprouted when a tuber
Research Institute and Bangladesh Agricultural had at least one sprout of at least 2 mm long. The
Development Corporation Tissue Culture development of sprouts of the microtubers was
Laboratory which were prepared through meristem recorded at two-day interval until all microtubers
culture earlier. In vitro plantlets of three potato had sprouted. The dormant period was assessed as
varieties were multiplied as per routine by a number of days from treatment to sprouting and
subculturing of single stem nodes at every three was considered to have ended when 80% of the
weeks interval for growing the explants up to 6-8 microtubers had at least one sprout of at least 2 mm
nodes stage to get the desired number of plantlets long.
for experimentation. The multiplication medium
contained minerals salts and vitamins (Murashige Experimental design and data analysis
and Skoog 1962) which were supplemented with
0.1 mg L-1 gibberellic acid (GA3), 0.01 mg L-1 The experiment was laid out in a completely
Napthal acetic acid (NAA), 4 mg l-1 D-calcium randomized design (CRD) with three replications.
pantathonate and 30 g l-1 sucrose. The medium was All the collected data were analyzed by analysis of
solidified with 8 g L-1 agar and before autoclaving variance and the means were compared according
the pH was adjusted to 5.7 . The temperature in the to Duncans Multiple Range Test at 5% level of
growth chamber was 201 0C with 16 hours probability.
photoperiod and the light was supplied by
fluorescent tubes at an intensity of 3000 lux. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
In vitro production of microtuber Dormancy period
The dormancy period tended to increase with a
Step I: Eight stem segments (each with 3 decrease in the size of microtubers and Granola had
nodes) of subcultured in vitro plantlets were again a longer dormancy period (30.33 days) in <250 mg
cultured in liquid medium in 250 mL Erlenmeyer microtuber than other two varieties (Table 1). This
flasks contained mineral salts and vitamins is the normal behaviour in open field condition of
(Murashige and Skoog 1962) which were potato cultivar Granula required comparatively
supplemented with 0.1 mg l-1 Gibberellic acid more time for sprouting. In this experiment, the
(GA3), 0.01mg l1 naphthalene acetic acid (NAA), potato cultivar solely shows their own dormancy
4 mg l1 D-calcium pantothenate, and 30 g l1 behavior which strictly depend on their genetic
sucrose for 28 days. constituents. The results of our experiment are also
consistent with the earlier findings of Lommen
Step II: After 28 days, the liquid media were (1995) where he reported that, the length of the
decanted off and 40 ml microtuber induction dormancy period decreased with increasing of

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Table 1. Performance of variety on dormancy period Table 2. Response of variety on length of sprout (mm)
(days) as influenced by microtuber weight influenced by microtuber weight
Microtuber weight (mg)
Variety Microtuber weight (mg)
>500 250-500 <250 Variety
Asterix 12.57 b 14.00 c 19.95 c >500 250-500 <250
Granola 22.00 a 23.38 a 30.33 a Asterix 28.43 a 24.85 a 17.55 b
Diamant 12.57 b 18.29 b 22.76 b
Mean followed by same letter(s) in a column are not Granola 10.58 c 8.81 c 8.03 c
significantly different by DMRT at 5% level of Diamant 27.01 b 23.01 b 19.36 a
probability
Mean followed by same letter(s) in a column are not
significantly different by DMRT at 5% level of
microtubers weights, confirming results of. Leclerc probability
et al. (1995) suggested that the longer dormancy
Table 3. Response of variety on sprout mass (mg mm-1)
periods of small microtubers might reflect influenced by microtuber weight
differences in microtuber age at the time of harvest.
Emillson (1949) and Cho et al. (1983) also reported Microtuber weight (mg)
Variety
that In vitro microtubers cannot be induced to >500 250-500 <250
sprout even under optimal environmental Asterix 0.42 b 0.32 b 0.21 a
conditions and the rest period is 5-10 weeks
Granola 0.39b 0.23 c 0.19 b
duration in different cultivars. Moreover, the length
of dormancy is cultivar-specific (Ranalli et al. Diamant 0.49 a 0.36 a 0.20 ab
1994) and it can be affected by environmental Mean followed by same letter(s) in a column are not
conditions during growth and storage (Burton 1989 significantly different by DMRT at 5% level of
and Suttle and Hultstrand 1994). probability

Number of sprouts and Asterix gave higher fresh yields of sprouts than
The number of sprout microtuber-1 was Granola (Figure 2). Salimi et al. (2010) reported
insignificant irrespective of variety and weight that the fresh weight tended to increase with an
(Figure 1). However, the number of sprout increase in minituber weight.
microtuber-1 was slightly more in Diamant in all Sprout mass
grades and in Asterix of higher grade.
The larger the microtubers the larger the
Length of sprout sprout mass unit-1 of sprout length and Diamant and
The length of sprouts tended to increase with Asterix tended to have higher values than Granola
an increase in the weight of microtubers and (Table 3). Salimi et al. (2010) reported that the
Asterix had significantly longer sprouts than other sprout mass unit-1 sprout length of the longest
two varieties (Table 2). Salimi et al. (2010) sprout tended to increase with an increase in
reported that the length of sprout tended to increase microtuber weight. The sugar content at harvest is
with an increase in minituber weight. one of the important parameters determining the
maturity and sprouting vigor of seed potato because
Fresh weight of sprout sucrose, glucose, and fructose are known to play a
Larger microtubers showed higher fresh primary role in the sprouting metabolism (Rees and
weights of sprouts than smaller ones and Diamant Morrell 1990). These results are also supported by
Gregory (1956) and Ewing (1990) where they

Figure 1. Response of variety on sprout number influenced by microtuber weight

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Figure 2. Response of variety on fresh weight of sprout influenced by microtuber weight

suggested that sucrose may be the only compound Red Norland of potato (Solanum tuberosum).
necessary for induction of microtuber. Sucrose Pakistan Journal of Botany, 42: 1093-1102.
provides a concentration promising for the Beukema H.P. Van der Zaag D.E. (1990)
development of microtubers (Aslam and Iqbal Introduction to potato production. Pudoc,
2010), microtuber induction response on MS Wageningen, The Netherlands.
medium supplemented with 8% sucrose (Carlson Burton W.G. (1989) The storage of potatoes in
2004; Sushruti et al. 2004 and Miranda et al. 2005). bulk. In: Burton, W.G. (Ed.), The Potato.
Longman Scientific and Technical, New York.
CONCLUSION Carlson C. Groza H.I. Jiang J. (2004) Induction of
in vitro minimum potato plant growth and
Microtuber grades influenced positively on microtuberization. American Journal of Potato
sprouting of potato varieties. Increasing rate of Research, 81: 50.
microtuber weight significantly takes minimum Cho J.L. Lritani W.M. Martin M.W. (1983)
days to induce sprout, increases their number, fresh Comparison of methods for measuring
weight as well as fresh mass. All these characters dormancy of potatoes. American Potato
are genotype specific. The variety Granola had a Journal, 60: 169-177.
longer dormancy period and slightly longer sprouts Dey T.K. (2001) Occurrence and management of
in Asterix than other two varieties. Besides, bacterial wilt of potato and survivability of
Diamant and Asterix gave higher fresh yields of Ralstonia solanacearum. Ph. D Thesis.
sprouts and sprout mass. BSMRAU, Salna, Gazipur.p.186
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Emillsson B. (1949) Studies on the rest period and
dormant period in the potato tuber. Acta
The authors express profound gratitude to the Agriculturae Suecana, 3: 189-284.
Ministry of Science and Technology, Bangladesh Ewing E.E. (1990) Induction of tuberization in
for financial support during conducting this potato: In: The molecular and cellular biology
research. of the potato. M. E. Vayda and W. D. Park
(eds). CAB International, Wallingford, UK.
AUTHORS CONTRIBUTIONS
25-41.
This work was carried out in collaboration between Forti E. Mandolino G. Ranalli P. (1992) In vitro
all authors. Author Md. Sadek Hossain designed tuber induction: influence of the variety and of
the study protocol. The author Md. Dulal Sarkar the media. Acta Horticulturae, 300: 127132.
wrote the manuscript and managed the statistical Gregory L.E. (1956) Some factors for tuberization
analyses of the study. Author Md. Mahabubul in the potato. American Journal of Botany, 43:
Haque and Md. Rezaul Karim Talukder reviewed 281-288.
the drafts of the manuscript. Md. Quamruzzaman Hussey G. Stacey N.J. (1981) In Vitro propagation
and Rojobi Nahar Rojoni managed the literature of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.). Annals of
searches. All authors read and approved the final Botany, 48 (6): 787796.
manuscript. Hussey G. Stacey N.J. (1984) Factors affecting the
formation of in vitro tubers of potato (Solanum
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