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

IBAÑEZ V; BERLI F; MASUELLI RW; BOTTINI RA; MARFIL CF

PLANT SCIENCE

ELSEVIER IRELAND LTD

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2017

0168-9452

Climate change could lead to an upward shift in plant distribution, exposing populations to higher levels of ultraviolet(UV)-B radiation. In the framework of an in situ strategy for conserving potato wild relatives, we evaluated the effect ofhigh UV-B levels on natural population of Solanum kurtzianum. The hypothesis is that plants from naturally higheraltitudes are more adapted to increased UV-B radiation. Two populations from low and high altitudes were fieldsupplemented using UV-B-lamps (+UV-B) or excluded from it with plastic filters. Additionally, to assess in which extentthe plant responses to these artificial experimental conditions are reproducible in natural conditions, three genotypeswere cultivated in two mountain experimental gardens (EG) at different elevations. +UV-B treatment induced changesin leaf morphology and increases in phenolic compounds in both populations, indicating plant adaptation, sincechlorophylls and reproductive structures were not negatively affected. These results indicate that this environmentalfactor may not limit the displacement of populations towards sites with higher UV-B levels. Meanwhile, in higheraltitudeEG a tubers yield reduction, mainly through a decreased tuber number and a bigger accumulation of phenoliccompounds than in +UV-B treatment were observed, suggesting that UV-B is not the only factor involved in plantsadaptation to high altitude environments.