PHOTOENERGETIC FEATURES AND PRODUCTIVITY OF POTATO SOMATIC PHOTOMUTANTS INDUCED BY INTENSE INTERRUPTED WHITE-LIGHT

As a result of preplanting irradiation of maternal potato tubers by in tense interrupted white light (IIWL) at an energy of (18 - 75) x 10(9) Jm(-2) during the second vegetative reproduction, about 50% of highly productive somatic photomutants, which were resistant against some di seases and frost were selected All photomutants had several changed fe atures not typical of the initial variety. In the tenth vegetative rep roduction, the constancy of morphological features (shape of shrub, st em pattern, area and specific mass of leaves) as well as physiological -biochemical and photoenergetic features were studied (number of chlor oplasts in cells of the palisade and spongy parenchyma, content of pig ments; soluble proteins and fraction 1 protein, activity of nitrate re ductase, and the number of reaction centers of photosystems 1 and 2; s ize of antenna of light-collecting and focusing complex; day course of photosynthesis intensity; yield and quality of tubers), The mechanism of mutagenic effect of IIWL is discussed.