Stress and antistress effects of salicylic acid and acetyl salicylic acid on potato culture technology

Abstract

Our own research has found a number of potentially useful effects of medium supplementation with salicylate on in vitro potato microplants. These useful effects are obtained taking advantage of the stress and antistress effects of salicylic acid on plants. Growth inhibition is a common stress effect of salicylic acid on plants. This stress effect can be directed to culture technology, including promotion of in vitro tuberization and growth retardation during in vitro germplasm preservation. Antistress effects of salicylates can also be used in a planned manner to improve in vitro culture technology and hardening in potato with different applications like induction of thermotolerance during thermotherapy for virus elimination, organogenesis for micropropagation, and induction of tolerance to freezing and heat in microplants after transplanting to soil, in glasshouse trials. Tolerance to late blight (Phytophtora infestans) in potato has also been observed in field. We have also induced some of these effects in microplants by treatment with H2O2 which is consistent with evidence associating salicylate and H2O2 as endogenous signaling molecules. Stress and antistress effects appeared to be mediated by some antioxidant enzymes especially catalase, and by H2O2 accumulation. The use of salicylates would have agricultural relevance to culture technology and field crops.