Gene expression analysis of potato (Solanum tuberosum L. cv. russet Burbank) tubers during long-term storage and its relationship with after-cooking darkening

After-cooking darkening of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) tubers is an undesirable trait that affects the marketability of both processed and table-stock cultivars. This trait is primarily cultivar dependent and is known to increase during long-term storage.{09}The objective of this research was to identify genes that were differentially expressed in potato tubers during storage and that are responsible for storage-related changes in susceptibility to after-cooking darkening. Cultivar Russet Burbank tubers were stored for a ten-month period and samples were taken at a series of time points for total RNA isolation and for after-cooking darkening evaluation. The isolated total RNA was used for cDNA-AFLP analysis. Three differentially expressed transcript-derived fragments were isolated and, through sequence homology searches, identified as the genes encoding zeatin o-glucosyltransferase, constitutive photomorphic 1, and calcium transporting ATPase. The functions of these genes were reviewed in relation to tuber storage physiology and susceptibility to after-cooking darkening.