In vitro production of potato microtubers in liquid medium using temporary immersion

CIRAD developed a new apparatus for plant tissue culture, using temporary immersion in a liquid medium. This apparatus was adapted to the microtuber production in potato. The procedure is as follows: single node cultivation on MS medium containing 30 g/l sucrose in the light for 2 weeks, induction of microtuberisation with 80 g/l sucrose over a 2 week period in the light, followed by a further 6 weeks in the dark. All experiments were performed at 20 °C. The basic vessel had a capacity of approximately 11;30 nodes were cultivated per vessel. Depending on the cultivars tested (Bintje, Ostara and Désirée) 47 to 115 microtubers were harvested per vessel. Between 30 and 60% of the microtubers weighted over 0.5 g and between 10 and 40% over 0.8 g. Sprouting is still under investigation. Preliminary results indicate that the dormancy period was relatively short and several stems were obtained per microtuber. These results seem to be better than those usually reported. Only one simple protocol has been tested and further improvements are probably easy to obtain.