Influence of altitude and enhanced ultraviolet-B radiation on tuber production, seed viability, leaf pigments and morphology in the wild potato species Solanum kurtzianum Bitter & Wittm collected from an elevational gradient.

IBÁÑEZ V; BERLI FJ; MASUELLI R; BOTTINI R; MARFIL C

PLANT SCIENCE

ELSEVIER IRELAND LTD

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2017 vol. 261 p. 60 - 68

0168-9452

Climate change could lead to an upward shift in plant distribution, exposing populations to higher levels ofultraviolet (UV)-B radiation. In the framework of an in situ strategy for conserving potato wild relatives, weevaluated the effect of high UV-B levels on natural population of Solanum kurtzianum. The hypothesis is thatplants from naturally higher altitudes are more adapted to increased UV-B radiation. Two populations from lowand high altitudes were field supplemented using UV-B-lamps (+UV-B) or excluded from it with plastic filters.Additionally, to assess in which extent the plant responses to these artificial experimental conditions arereproducible in natural conditions, three genotypes were cultivated in two mountain experimental gardens (EG)at different elevations. +UV-B treatment induced changes in leaf morphology and increases in phenoliccompounds in both populations, indicating plant adaptation, since chlorophylls and reproductive structureswere not negatively affected. These results indicate that this environmental factor may not limit thedisplacement of populations towards sites with higher UV-B levels. Meanwhile, in higher-altitude EG a tubersyield reduction, mainly through a decreased tuber number and a bigger accumulation of phenolic compoundsthan in +UV-B treatment were observed, suggesting that UV-B is not the only factor involved in plantsadaptation to high altitude environments.