while the shoot apical meristem's role during dormancy emergence in seeds is relatively well-understood, molecular factors governing vegetative endodormancy and sprouting in tuberous plants have not been well studied. a microtuber culture system was developed in order to study dormancy emergence in the shoot apical meristem of the potato (solanum tuberosum). microtubers were induced from subcultured shoot internodes, grown for 9 weeks, then harvested.