Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas [L.] Lam.); 2n=6x=90) is the seventh most important food crop after rice (Oryza sativa L.), wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), maize (Zea mays L.), potato (Solanum tuberosum L.), barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) in the world. In 2020, 105 million tons sweet potatoes were produced, according to statistics from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The high yield of sweet potato stems from its high photosynthesis efficiency. For instance, the photosynthesis amount of sweet potato per day can reach 152 MJ·ha-1, which is just after maize (159 MJ·ha-1). Besides, sweet potato also has strong resistance to barrenness and stress. Consequently, sweet potato is widely grown around the world and is the staple food of many countries.
Storage roots, the main harvest goal in sweet potato production, are anomalous roots formed from adventitious root differentiation under suitable conditions. The essence of storage root bulking is the development of secondary meristems and cell proliferation. Therefore, sweet potato has become a model plant for studying storage root development. In addition, both the leaves and storage roots of sweet potato are rich in various metabolites. During the development of storage roots, starch is synthesized and accumulated in parenchyma cells. The accumulation of starch determines the dry matter yield of storage roots. The storage roots of sweet potato vary in flesh color from white to orange and to purple, depending on the nature of the pigments (carotenoids and anthocyanins) produced. Additionally, both the leaves and storage roots are rich in various vitamins, anthocyanins, dietary fibers, and micronutrients. Thus, sweet potato has been a popular health food in recent years and is also a good material for studying the starch synthesis and pigment metabolism.
At present, sweet potato attracts more and more researchers, because of its high yield, high nutrition, strong stress resistance, and special root structure. Nevertheless, the advances in its biological research and breeding remain highly restricted compared with other crops. To breed high-yield and/or high-quality sweet potato, the developmental, physiological, and genetic characteristics of sweet potato should be clarified.
In this Research Topic, we welcome all article types published by Frontiers in Plant Science that dissect the morphology, physiology, molecular biology, and breeding of sweet potato biology especially those that focus on:
• Physiological and molecular mechanisms of high yield in sweet potato.
• The mechanisms of sweet potato storage root formation and development.
• The high-stress resistance mechanisms of sweet potato. For example, mechanisms of sweet potato tolerance to salt stress, or hormonal changes in sweet potato under stress conditions.
• Metabolic pathways of starch, carotenoids, anthocyanins, and other secondary metabolites in sweet potato.
• The genomics and genetic diversity of sweet potato.
Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas [L.] Lam.); 2n=6x=90) is the seventh most important food crop after rice (Oryza sativa L.), wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), maize (Zea mays L.), potato (Solanum tuberosum L.), barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) in the world. In 2020, 105 million tons sweet potatoes were produced, according to statistics from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The high yield of sweet potato stems from its high photosynthesis efficiency. For instance, the photosynthesis amount of sweet potato per day can reach 152 MJ·ha-1, which is just after maize (159 MJ·ha-1). Besides, sweet potato also has strong resistance to barrenness and stress. Consequently, sweet potato is widely grown around the world and is the staple food of many countries.
Storage roots, the main harvest goal in sweet potato production, are anomalous roots formed from adventitious root differentiation under suitable conditions. The essence of storage root bulking is the development of secondary meristems and cell proliferation. Therefore, sweet potato has become a model plant for studying storage root development. In addition, both the leaves and storage roots of sweet potato are rich in various metabolites. During the development of storage roots, starch is synthesized and accumulated in parenchyma cells. The accumulation of starch determines the dry matter yield of storage roots. The storage roots of sweet potato vary in flesh color from white to orange and to purple, depending on the nature of the pigments (carotenoids and anthocyanins) produced. Additionally, both the leaves and storage roots are rich in various vitamins, anthocyanins, dietary fibers, and micronutrients. Thus, sweet potato has been a popular health food in recent years and is also a good material for studying the starch synthesis and pigment metabolism.
At present, sweet potato attracts more and more researchers, because of its high yield, high nutrition, strong stress resistance, and special root structure. Nevertheless, the advances in its biological research and breeding remain highly restricted compared with other crops. To breed high-yield and/or high-quality sweet potato, the developmental, physiological, and genetic characteristics of sweet potato should be clarified.
In this Research Topic, we welcome all article types published by Frontiers in Plant Science that dissect the morphology, physiology, molecular biology, and breeding of sweet potato biology especially those that focus on:
• Physiological and molecular mechanisms of high yield in sweet potato.
• The mechanisms of sweet potato storage root formation and development.
• The high-stress resistance mechanisms of sweet potato. For example, mechanisms of sweet potato tolerance to salt stress, or hormonal changes in sweet potato under stress conditions.
• Metabolic pathways of starch, carotenoids, anthocyanins, and other secondary metabolites in sweet potato.
• The genomics and genetic diversity of sweet potato.
