The Growth Response of Several Potato Genotypes (<i>Solanum tuberosum</i> L.) to Induced Water Stress Using Sorbitol and Polyethylene Glycol

The current paper aimed to study the in vitro response of potato genotypes to water stress induced by adding sorbitol and polyethylene glycol in the culture medium. The biological material analysed in the experiment was represented by a Romanian line ‘LP 11-1525/1’ and two isogenic lines ‘LI 101’ and ‘LI 102’. For cultures initiation, the line ‘LP 11-1525/1’ was started from meristems and for the other two genotypes true potato seeds were used. The studied potato genotypes behaved differently depending on the analysed parameters and on the treatment applied for drought tolerance. It was noted that the line ‘LP 11-1525/1’ achieved good results for most of the growth parameters studied, and also the lines derived from true potato seeds behaved well, in some cases even exceeding the line derived from meristems. Of the lines derived from true potato seeds, the best performance was noted for line ‘LI 101-6’ in all the analysed parameters, both on sorbitol and PEG medium. In addition, lines ‘LI 101-7’ and ‘LI 102-4’ achieved good results on both variants of medium used to mediate water stress. Therefore, establishing drought tolerance individuals within populations derived from true potato seeds using sorbitol and polyethylene glycol might be applied.