Tuber formation as influenced by the C : N ratio in potato plants

Increasing the tuber number per plant and promoting tuber formation are important goals for potato production. Thus, it is of significance to understand how environmental factors affect tuber formation, which relates to the development of agronomical practices. The objective of this research was to test whether changing the CO₂ or N supply level could alter the C : N ratio in potatoes, and whether a change of the C : N ratio in potatoes closely correlates with tuber formation in potato plants. Potato plantlets were grown in greenhouse with varied CO₂ or N levels. The C and N concentrations of plants were measured, and the tuber number and tuber weight were recorded after different growth times. The results show that the C : N ratios in the potato plants increased with increasing CO₂ concentration and that potato plants treated with higher CO₂ concentrations form tubers earlier. A decrease in the N supply also resulted in a higher C : N ratio and earlier tuber formation. Therefore the hypothesis proposed previously is supported by the present work. In addition, the results that C concentration in plants remained stable under different CO₂ or N levels imply that the variation of C : N ratio in the potato plants is mainly due to a change of N concentrations which decreased as the environmental CO₂ concentration increased, while increased as the N supply level increased.