In Vitro Study of Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) Tolerant to the Drought Stress

Abstract

In vitro preliminary studies is candidate tolerant of potato ( Solanum tuberosum L.) to the drought stress. This study aimed to determine the characters of potato after being exposed to in vitro drought stress conditions using Polyethylene Glycol PEG.  This research was conducted at the Tissue Culture Laboratory, UPT Balai Benih Induk Hortikultura Dinas Pertanian Provinsi Sumatera Utara, in Medan and other places in January 2015 until May 2015. This study used Completely Randomized non Factorial Design namely PEG (P) comprising of two levels, namely: P1 = 5 000 mg · L – 1, P2 = 6 000 mg · L – 1.  The results showed that increasing the concentration of PEG resulted in reduction of the percentage of plantlets survival, reduced plantlets height and plantlets dry weight but  the increase in  the total protein and leaf chlorophyll. Although the banding pattern is relatively the same, there is a brighter visible banding pattern on potato plantlets with OPAA 09  in the range of 65 bp to 75 bp with sequences of GTGGGTGCCA.