Use of chlorine dioxide to sterilize medium for tissue culture of potato

In vitro cultured seedlings or microtubers are the major starting materials for the production of potato. Currently, seedlings are cultured in media sterilized by autoclaving, which, however, consumes more electricity and takes longer for sterilization, and also requires high temperature-tolerant vessel materials. In order to identify alternative methods of sterilizing culture conditions, the disinfection effects of chlorine dioxide (CD) at 88.0, 29.3, 17.6, 12.6 and 8.8 μM were evaluated in potato medium and vessels. The ≥12.6 μM gaseous CD effectively disinfected vessel through a 30-min fumigation process, and its aqueous solution disinfected potato medium efficiently as well. In presence of 12.6 μM CD in the medium, the potato seedlings had similar morphological features as those grown on autoclaved medium, with some exceptions. The use of 12.6–29.3 μM aqueous CD to sterilize the medium increased antioxidant enzyme activities in potato seedlings, while the use of higher concentration decreased antioxidant enzyme activity levels. SSR analysis did not reveal significant molecular differences in potato seedlings cultured between autoclaved and CD-sterilized medium. In addition to this, CD-sterilized medium induced potato microtuber formation at a similar rate as autoclaved medium. In summary, using CD to sterilize potato medium and vessels did not compromise the growth of seedlings and microtuber induction. This study provides an economical and simplified sterilization method for media used to culture potato plantlets, and this can improve energy use of the large-scale tissue culture industry.