New publication in the plant journal
Potato is one of the most important staple food crops, consumed by millions of people worldwide. Unfortunately, potato plants display diminished yield in response to heat stress, which is especially problematic in the face of constantly increasing ambient temperatures.
We investigated whether the heat-mediated yield losses can be mitigated through nitrogen fertilization. Our findings show that this strategy is not viable, as heat in combination with high nitrogen fertilization is not useful but rather harmful to potato tuber yields.
In contrast, overexpression of the tuberigen SP6A in potato plants leads to an improved nitrogen utilization which translates into an increased tuber yield under high nitrogen fertilization. These plants maintained stable yields even under the additional application of elevated temperatures. These findings indicate that SP6A is a feasible candidate gene for ensuring potato yields under conditions of climate change.
Our results were published in the plant journal in February 2024 and will be part of the special issue “Combined Stress – From Genes to Ecosystems”. The full text can be read online under the following link: https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.16679