Selection of sweet potato cultivars with enhanced tolerance to oxidative stress to apply combating desertification

摘要

Oxidative stress derived from excess reactive oxygen species (ROS) is a major damaging factor for plants Oxidative stress derived from excess reactive oxygen species (ROS) is a major damaging factor for plants exposed to environmental stresses. Sweetpotato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam] has a relatively broad adaptability to harsh environmental conditions compared to other staple crops. In this study, to select oxidative stress tolerant sweetpotato cultivars for the sources of molecular breeding on marginal land to combat desertification,we investigated DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydazyl) radical scavenging activity of three hundreds sweetpotato cultivars from National Sweetpotato Germplasm Collection at Jiangsu Xuzhou Sweetpotato Research Center,China. The average DPPH activity was 789 ug ascorbic acid/g FW and the cultivars were divided into 4 groups (low,middle,high and top) according to their an-tioxidant activity. Among them,20 cultivars exhibited top level of radical scavenging activity,higher than 1600 ug ascorbic acid/g FW,and selected for further analysis in terms of oxidative stress tolerance. These cultivars are now grown in two target fields (Loess plateau and Inner Mongolia) to investigate a-daptability and productivity on marginal lands.