Tuber morphology Tuberization

Jefford, T.G. and Edelman, J., The metabolism of fructose polymers in plants. II. Effect of temperature on the carbohydrate changes and morphology of stored tubers of Helianthus tuberosus L. J. Exp. Bot., 14, 56-62, 1963. 

A transgenic reduction in MIPS activity has also been reported. Antisense suppression of MIPS in transgenic potato resulted in a sevenfold reduction in inositol, and resulted in reduced apical dominance, altered leaf morphology, precocious leaf senescence and a decrease in overall tuber yield. The altered leaf morphology was found to be due to cell enlargement in the leaves. The authors of this study found that in addition to inositol, galactinol, and raffinose levels were reduced. In contrast, increases were observed for hexose phosphates, sucrose, and starch. The authors further concluded that many different inositol metabolites may have contributed to the development of the phenotypes observed (Keller et al., 1998). 

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