1/13/2024 0 Comments Tomatoes resistant to late blight![]() ![]() ![]() When sporangia are released, indeterminate growth of sporangiophores can produce new, mature sporangia in just four hours in a moist environment (Fry et al, 2013 Agrios, 2005). Sporangia readily dislodge and spread via wind and water to cause new infections, which can grow to produce new sporangiophores in as few as four days (Agrios, 2005). infestans mycelium infects the seedlings and eventually forms sporangiophores through the stomata of stems and leaves sporangiophores are specialized hyphae that produce sporangia (Link et al, 2012). infestans initially requires a living host for survival, so primary inoculum usually comes from infected potato tubers overwintered in storage, cull piles or left in the field (Agrios, 2005). infestans as a pathogen can partly be attributed to its effective reproduction both sexually and asexually as shown in Figure 2 (Nowicki et al, 2012). For potato crops alone, the estimated annual cost of the disease is upwards of $6.8 billion due to decreased yields, tuber quality and storage ability as well as costs associated with fungicide applications (Nowicki et al, 2012 Fry et al, 2015). infestans, whole crops can be devastated within 7-10 days, and the disease can affect 41-100% of unprotected fields and 12-65% of fields sprayed with systemic fungicides (See Figure 1 Nowicki et al, 2012). Late blight is caused by the oomycete Phytophthora infestans, and is widely regarded as one of the most devastating plant diseases, specifically for potatoes and tomatoes (Agrios, 2005 Fry et al, 2015). It wasn’t until 1861 that Anton deBary performed the experiments that revealed late blight was caused by a fungus (later reclassified as an oomycete), but nonetheless the disease has remained a global focus ever since (Agrios, 2005). In a zeitgeist still popularizing the theory of spontaneous generation, most people at the time believed the Irish potato famine was the result of the devil’s work or God’s punishment (Agrios, 2005). While late blight is believed to have first arrived in Europe in the early part of the decade, the disease destroyed nearly every potato tuber and plant in Ireland between 18, leading to the starvation of an estimated million and a half people and the emigration of a million and a half more to the United States (Agrios 2005 Buchanan 2012). Lumper’s downfall, in addition to poor taste, was its susceptibility to late blight, which would devastate the country in the mid-1840s (Agrios, 2005 Buchanan 2012). ![]() The necessity and desperation of Irish farmers to produce as many calories on as little land as possible led to widespread adoption of a new cultivar called ‘Lumper,’ which was productive enough to feed a hungry family of four for a year on an acre of land with the potential for such high yields, nearly every potato planted in Ireland was the Lumper genotype (Buchanan, 2012). By the 1840s, political, social, and economic factors fostered almost complete reliance on potatoes as sole food source (Agrios, 2005 Buchanan, 2012). Despite initial hesitancy to adopt these crops as food items, the potato earned its place as a staple for many farmers and families in Ireland this was largely due to potatoes producing more calories per unit of land than traditional grain crops (Agrios, 2005). Originating in the New World, potatoes ( Solanum tuberosum) and tomatoes ( Solanum lycopersicum) were introduced to Europe around 1570 CE (Agrios, 2005). (Figures unfortunately not included in this blog, but sources are still included in bibliography) ![]() Merscher, June 2017, Undergraduate, The Evergreen State College Late Blight of Tomato: A Brief History of the Disease and its Impact, and Current Knowledge of Resistance (with a focus in western Washington)īy P. ![]()
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