244 EFFECT OF PHOTOPERIOD ON NET CARBON ASSIMILATION AND PARTITIONING IN WHITE POTATO

Abstract

Photoperiod treatments were imposed on potato (Solanum tuberosum L. cv. Norland) grown in the Biomass Production Chamber (BPC) at Kennedy Space Center under HPS lamps (670 μmol m-2s-1 PPF) at 1200 μmol mol-1 CO2. Stand A decreased with dark cycle length, which correlated with the change in leaf starch concentration during the dark cycle, but not absolute starch concentration. A series of growth chamber experiments were performed to characterize the effect of photoperiod and PPF on CO2 assimilation and starch mobilization in single leaves. Plants grown on a 12/12 photoperiod at either low (300 μmol m-2s-1) or high (600 μmol m-2s-1) PPF were subjected to short-term photoperiod treatments of 8/16, 16/8, and 24/0 and diurnal CO2 assimilation rates, CO2 response curves, and leaf starch content were determined. CO2 compensation point was not affected by either photoperiod or PPF. However, Amax (when normalized for PPF) decreased with increasing photoperiod. Anet correlated with the changes in specific leaf weight and starch content during the dark cycle.