The potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is considered moderately sensitive to salinity stress. Yields can be adversely affected by salinity at EC levels of 2 to 3 dS·m–1. In vitro screening and selection for salinity tolerance may be faster and more reliable than traditional field assessment. A modified nodal cutting bioassay was developed based on that of Morpurgo (1991) and used to rank the salinity tolerance of several potato cultivars, wild Solanum species, and their hybrids. Nodal cuttings were cultured in Murashige and Skoog (1962) basal medium which included NaCl at 0, 40, 80, and 120 mM. After 4 weeks at 25C and 16/8 h day/night period, vegetative growth parameters were assessed. Hybrids derived from S. chacoense outperformed hybrids of other wild species, their wild parents, and S. tuberosum cultivars. `Russet Burbank' and `Kennebec' were more salinity-tolerant than the three other cultivars tested.
Effect of NPK Media Concentrations on In Vitro Potato Tuberization of Cultivars Nicola and Russet Burbank
