Parental effects on progeny: intergenerational phenotypic plasticity in potato plants
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59463/t7fxd424Keywords:
climate change, drought, polyethylene glycol, Solanum tuberosum L. , ultrasound, yieldAbstract
The increasing demand for food production and the obstacles associated with climate change are posing new challenges to modern agriculture. This is precisely why the development of new technologies and methods plays a prominent role in addressing these challenges in a sustainable manner. Previous studies have already supported the ability of plants to pass on newly acquired traits to their offspring, thereby increasing their resilience and fitness. However, these basic researches mostly focused on environmental impacts on plants and the heritability of the induced effects. Therefore, we tried to develop a method, using ultrasound - that could stimulate plant growth and development- in combination with an abiotic stress that occurs due to climate change. In this experimental study, one of the most significant stresses resulting from climate change, the drought stress, was selected, which we triggered by applying polyethylene glycol. Ultrasound as a stimulant on potato plants was applied under controlled conditions. The possible heritability of increased drought tolerance and the associated morphological and temporal changes were investigated. Based on the results, drought treatment had a positive after-effect on the second generation (progeny) under stress conditions. This positive after-effect was significantly amplified by the use of ultrasound in the parental generation. Furthermore, ultrasound itself had a preparatory effect on clonally propagated plants.
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