J. Veramendi et al., In vitro grown potato microtubers are a suitable system for the study of primary carbohydrate metabolism, PL PHYS BIO, 37(9), 1999, pp. 693-697
The aim of this work was to determine the suitability of-tissue culture mic
rotubers for the study of primary carbohydrate metabolism in potato plants
(Solanum tuberosum L. cv. Desiree). We have determined the levels of key en
zymes and intermediates in the pathways of sucrose metabolism, starch metab
olism and glycolysis in wild type microtubers. Comparison of the metabolite
levels in microtubers with a range of published studies on soil-grown deve
loping tubers showed that the two systems were similar both in the absolute
levels and in the ratios between metabolites, despite some differences in
the maximum catalytic activities of some glycolytic enzymes. We conclude th
at in vitro grown microtubers are an adequate model system for studying pri
mary carbohydrate metabolism in developing potato tubers. (C) 1999 Editions
scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.