TO FIELD TUBERS

THE INFLUENCE OF FOUR TISSUE CULTURE SYSTEMS FOR MICROTUBER INDUCTION, DEVELOPMENT AND GROWTH ARE EXAMINED. THE LITERATURE DESCRIBES THREE SYSTEMS FOR MAKING MICROTUBERS. HOWEVER, NO DATA HAS BEEN GENERATED TO DEFINE THE RELATIONSHIP AT A PHYSIOLOGICAL LEVEL BETWEEN MICROTUBERS AND FIELD TUBERS. THREE POTATO VARIETIES WILL BE EVALUATED.THE PARAMETERS OF MICROTUBER FORMATION WHICH WILL BE EXAMINED ARE: EXPLANT TYPE (GREEN SHOOT NODES, STOLON SECTIONS, WHOLE PLANTLET), CARBOHYDRATE SOURCE (SUCROSE, C02) SUBSTRATE (VERMICULITE VS. AGAR) AND DARK VS. SHORT DAYS. THE MICROTUBERS WILL BE EVALUATED BIWEEKLY ONCE DEVELOPMENT IS COMPLETE (EIGHT WEEKS) FOR THESE CHARACTERISTICS: SIZE, FW, DW, PERCENT SOLIDS, SPECIFIC GRAVITY, SKIN SET, AND RESPIRATION (DORMANCY). SAMPLE SIZE OF 10-50 MICROTUBERS WILL BE EVALUATED FOR MOST TRUE-TO-TYPE RESULTS. COMPUTER STATISTICAL ANALYSES AND GRAPHICS WILL BE USED TO INTERPRET DATA. THE PROGRAM OBJECTIVE IS TO DETERMINE WHAT EFFECT TISSUE CULTURE MICROTUBER PRODUCTION SYSTEMS HAVE ON MICROTUBER TO FIELD TUBER CORREALTIONS.