Drought-Responsive Antioxidant Enzymes in Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.)

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is highly sensitive to soil drought and extracts less of the available water from the soil than other crops. Even a very short period of water shortage has a negative effect on consumptive and technological properties of potato tubers. The cause of the poorer properties of potato tubers might not only be water shortage itself but could also be the enhanced production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) accompanying practically every kind of stress, both biotic and abiotic. However, antioxidative enzymes seem to counteract the ROS accumulation and, thus, might protect plants against the deleterious effects of environmental stresses. Our research shows that increased activity of peroxidase, superoxide dismutase and catalase protects plants from oxidative stress, and, consequently, against yield losses.