Impact of Heat Stress on Agronomic and Physiological Parameters of Different Potato (<i>Solanum tuberosum </i>L<i>.</i>) Cultivars

Globally, the climate change is expected to upsurge further. An increase will be noted in the future in the occurrence and sternness of life-threatening measures as extreme temperatures, heat waves and drought. This slight rise in temperature turns as stress and employ an adverse effect on different morpho-physiological attributes of plants as phenology, anatomy and gene expression. Also, the speedy rise in population and the drastic climatic changes severely affect global food security. Thus, how the plant responds to high temperatures and drought has become a key research topic. Heat stress causes a drastic effect on the growth and development of plants by bringing a series of morpho-physiological and biochemical changes. Our study aimed to address the impacts of heat stress on agronomic and physiological parameters in three different potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.) cultivars, i.e. Diamant, Multa, and Ajax. Heat stress of 42 oC was applied to the plants at 30 days after their germination. Increased heat stress for about seven days considerably affected the growth as well as physiological parameters in potato plants. The leaf relative water contents and chlorophyll contents resulted in decrease at high temperatures. An increase in plant height was detected for all the cultivars. Increase in proline and soluble sugars contents have also been observed. Our study suggested that heat stress has a significant effect on potato plants. To summarize, this research will subsidize to an inclusive understanding of the past, present, and future research on plant responses to high temperatures.