Tolerant potato cultivar selection under multiple abiotic stresses

Abstract

Potato is one of the most important food crops. Numbers of potato genotypes have been cultivated and widely cultured, especially in arid and semi-arid lands, hence, the resistance ability of potato is vital to fight against environmental stresses. In this experiment, we aimed to test five potato cultivars from different regions under drought, salt, high temperature and oxidative stresses in order to select the cultivar which could possess stronger resistance capability when subjected to one or more stresses. According to our result, the Chinese cultivar named LongShu NO.3 (cv. LS) is tolerant to drought, salt and oxidative stress as it hashigher SOD and APX activities, stronger rooting ability and more root dry weight in PEG or NaCl treated groups; however, it is sensitive to high temperature. While the cultivar named 'Superior' is rather sensitive to drought and salt, compared to other cultivars, its tolerance to high temperature is best with steady growth status, Fv/Fm and water content in leaf, under 42°C for 24 h. The rich anthocyanin contained cultivar JaYoung showed an overall excellent resistant ability to all stresses, and the important antioxidant, anthocyanin, might have played a crucial role.