CELLULAR MECHANISMS RELATED TO TUBERIZATI ON

Three functional stages take place during the ontogenesis of storage c ells : the setting up of the receiving structures, pre-accumulation st ep, accumulation-hypertrophy. The most striking phenomena are : a slow and long cellular growth, nuclear endopolyploidisation, varied strate gies for the penetration of the precursors of storage sugars. One of t he mechanisms responsible for the stages is proposed : the storage cel ls are responsible for a trophic diverting and so induce the partial d ormancy which is necessary to set up the other ontogenic steps.