The use of constant and alternating temperature regimes and tissue culture to obtain PVS—Free potato plants

Growth of 6 potato virus S (PVS)-infected potato clones in tissue culture in temperature regimes alternating between supraoptimal (40°C–45°C) and optimal (25°C) temperatures was compared to incubation of etiolated shoots at constant moderate temperatures (37°C) to obtain virus-free plants by shoot tip culture. Both procedures were effective in obtaining PVS-free propagative material. Virus-free plants were obtained in 5 of 6 clones by the alternating temperatures procedure and in 4 of the 6 clones by the constant 37°C incubation prior to shoot tip isolation. Heat tolerance, virus inactivation, and development of pathogen-free buds from the heat-treated plants depended upon the potato cultivar and the type of culture media in which the tips grew, but these characteristics did not coincide in any clone. The variety Chieftain was the least tolerant to the high temperatures and no virus-free individuals were recovered. White Rose was the most heat resistant, but Russet Burbank resulted with the highest percentage of PVS-free plants. The virus was eliminated from the variety Kennebec only by the alternating temperature treatments. Exposing potato plantlets in the alternating temperature regimes prior to isolation and regeneration of shoot tips was slightly better than the traditional method of incubation of plants at constant moderate temperatures that the plant will withstand and offers a new option in freeing plants of more tenacious viruses.