Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is one of the most important food crops globally and is especially vulnerable to heat stress. However, substantial knowledge gaps remain in our understanding of the developmental mechanisms associated with tuber responses to heat stress. This study used whole-plant physiology, transcriptomics, and phytohormone profiling to elucidate how heat stress affects potato tuber development. When plants were grown in projected future elevated temperature conditions, abscisic acid (ABA) levels decreased in leaf and tuber tissues, whereas rates of leaf carbon assimilation and stomatal conductance were not significantly affected compared to those plants grown in historical temperature conditions. While plants grown in projected future elevated temperature conditions initiated more tubers per plant on average, there was a 66% decrease in mature tubers at the final harvest compared to those plants grown in historical temperature conditions. We hypothesize that reduced tuber yields at elevated temperatures are not due to reduced tuber initiation, but due to impaired tuber filling. Transcriptomic analysis detected significant changes in the expression of genes related to ABA response, heat stress, and starch biosynthesis. The tuberization repressor genes SELF-PRUNING 5G (StSP5G) and CONSTANS-LIKE1 (StCOL1) were differentially expressed in tubers grown in elevated temperatures. Two additional known tuberization genes, IDENTITY OF TUBER 1 (StIT1) and TIMING OF CAB EXPRESSION 1 (StTOC1), displayed distinct expression patterns under elevated temperatures compared to historical temperature conditions but were not differentially expressed. This work highlights potential gene targets and key developmental stages associated with tuberization to develop potatoes with greater heat tolerance.

Department of Biological Sciences Auburn University Auburn AL 36849 USA

Department of Crop and Soil Sciences Center for Applied Genetic Technologies University of Georgia Athens GA 30602 USA

Department of Forest Tree Species Biology and Breeding Forestry and Game Management Research Institute Jíloviště 25202 Czech Republic

Laboratory of Hormonal Regulations in Plants Institute of Experimental Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences Prague 6 Lysolaje 16502 Czech Republic

School of Plant and Environmental Sciences Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg VA 24061 USA

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