Abstract
The use of growth regulators in potato crop is an alternative to reduce the aerial growth of plants and redirects carbon assimilates and nutrients to the tubers. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of growth regulators, paclobutrazol and trinexapac-ethyl on plant growth and changes on the anatomy of leaves of cultivar Markies in summer conditions of the southern region of Brazil. Potato plants cv. Markies were in the summer growing season of Southeast region of Brazil and 35 days after planting, the plants were sprayed with paclobutrazol (PBZ) at 0.125 and 0.250 L ha-1 and trinexapac-ethyl (TE) at 1.0 and 2.0 L ha-1. Treatment with PBZ at both doses reduced the height of potato plants, which resulted in higher index of leaf chlorophyll and reduced the content of starch and non-reducing sugars. Both PBZ and TE treated plants exhibited anatomical changes in the leaves, including larger epidermal cells and more elongated palisades cells. These data suggest that such changes in the anatomy of potato leaf in response to the use of PBZ directly influence leaf metabolism.
Highlights
Total production of dry matter by potato plant and its distribution among the different organs of the plant are important factors on the yield of tubers (Silva et al, 2009)
The adoption of management practices that may reduce the size of the plants can be an alternative to increase the yield of tubers, which can be achieved by applying plant growth regulators, to reduce plant height (Rademacher, 2000)
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of growth regulators, paclobutrazol and trinexapac-ethyl on plant growth and the anatomy of leaves of cultivar Markies in summer conditions of the southern region of Brazil
Summary
Total production of dry matter by potato plant and its distribution among the different organs of the plant are important factors on the yield of tubers (Silva et al, 2009). Potato is mainly a temperate climate plant, which perform poorly under warm weather conditions. Potato production depends on the ability of the plant to synthesize carbohydrates in the leaves and mobilize them into the growing tubers (Geigenberger et al, 2004; Bahaji et al, 2014). One of the factors that restrict higher yields is related to excessive growth of the aerial parts in detriment to smaller growth of the tubers (Prakash et al, 2001). Because potato is mainly a temperate climate plant, which performs poorly under warm weather conditions, most cultivars present greater vegetative growth, favoring the growth of the aerial part of the plants. The adoption of management practices that may reduce the size of the plants can be an alternative to increase the yield of tubers, which can be achieved by applying plant growth regulators, to reduce plant height (Rademacher, 2000)
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