Abstract:Potato tuber, swollen at the tip of the stolon, is a modified stem growing underground. There are many researches on the physiological mechanism of tuber initiation. The results have shown that many factors influence the tuberization. Short day length, relatively low temperature, and high concentration of sucrose in the medium in vitro are thought to favour tuber initiation. Variation of endogenous hormones has also been observed during tuber development. However, a systematic research on the gene expression which relates to tuberization is still a gap in studies on potato tuber evelopment. The available data indicate that tuber formation and the subsequent growth are regulated by the activation or close down of the functions of the relevant genes. These processes are also accompanied with the expression of the genes controlling the synthesis of starch and proteins in tubers. This paper reviews the current achievement
s in the field of potato tuber development.