Research
CEEM is developing projects in
Eastern European countries and Mexico. In addition, there
are other related projects on Potato Late Blight being developed
by other organizations and in other countries.
Mexico
Toluca International
Late Blight Project (TILB Project).
Focuses on the role of oospores in
the life cycle of P. infestans in the Toluca Valley,
Mexico. Factors affecting oospore survival and germination,
such as soil water potential and soil microbial activity,
as well as factors affecting oospore formation are studied.
This international research effort was established with the
objective of studying the ecology, population biology and
epidemiology of the potato late blight pathogen at the center
of origin. The TILB Project has hosted several visiting scientists
and interns. The project maintains an active research program,
including field work and laboratory investigations. Project
Participants: Mexico: Hector Lozoya-Saldana, Sylvia Pavia-Fernandez,
PICTIPAPA; U.S.: William E. Fry, Niklaus Grünwald, and
K. V. Raman, Cornell University. Sponsors: CEEM and the Programa
Internacional Cooperativo del Tizón Tardío de
la Papa (PICTIPAPA, A.C.). Click
here to see the TILB Project web page.
Genetic Studies and
Breeding of Stable Late Blight Resistance of Potato in the U.S.
and Mexico.
Abstract: New forms of
late blight (Phytophthora infestans) have migrated
from Mexico to the United States. This has caused a tremendous
increase in losses and costs associated with the control of
the fungus. The best long term solution is to breed new varieties
with foliar and tuber resistance. The late blight fungus is
notoriously variable and seems to be in a state of rapid evolutionary
change. This may be enhanced by sexual reproduction which was
previously only known from the Toluca Valley of Mexico. New
sources of late blight resistance have been extracted from diverse
germplasm sources including wild species. They will be stable
if they show non-race specific resistance and the ability to
slow disease development when exposed to different clones of
the fungus in different environments and seasons. The Toluca
Valley of Mexico has the most diverse late blight in the world.
Testing there will expose prospective potato breeding clones
to ensure future blight genotypes that may appear in the U.S.
in the future and assure that the potato is not depending on
highly unstable R-genes for its resistance. The cooperative
program consists of field testing and note-taking in the field
in the Toluca Valley conducted by PICTIPAPA personnel of late
blight resistant breeding materials from cooperators in the
U.S. Project Participants: Mexico: Niklaus Grünwald, Cornell
Unviersity and Hector Lozoya-Saldana, PICTIPAPA; USA: Charles
R. Brown, Dennis Corsini, John Helgeson, and Joe Pavek USDA/ARS.
Sponsor: USDA/FAS.
Poland
Collaborative Research
with Russian Scientists to Enhance Potato Late Blight Resistance,
Mediated by Poland's Plant Breeding and Acclimatization Institute
(IHAR).
Plant Breeding and Acclimatization
Institute (IHAR), Poland. The objective of this research project
is to develop research relationships with Russian scientists
at the N. I. Vavilov Research Institute of Plant Industry
(VIR) who are currently conducting potato research in Russia,
by extension of the USDA/FAS Polish project (grant no. FG-Po-390,
project PL-ARS-285). Project Leader: Dr. Ewa Zimnoch-Guzowska,
IHAR. Sponsors: CEEM Project and the Wallace Genetic Foundation.Identification
of Potatoes Resistant to New Strains of Late Blight.
Plant Breeding and Acclimatization Institute (IHAR), Poland.
Potato is an important food product in the USA and Poland
and late blight is a most serious disease affecting the economy
of potato production in both countries. Breeding
potatoes resistant of late blight is likely to be the most
effective and environment-friendly way of reducing losses
due to this disease. Several
potato genotypes resistant to P. infestans have been
reported and such genotypes were also obtained in the framework
of parental line breeding done for the last 30 years in the
Polish Potato Research Institute. Little information is available
on the relative value of resistant genotypes selected by various
centers. In the framework of
the project, cultivars (known to be the most resistant) originating
from various countries will be compared with the most promising
diploid and tetraploid potato genotypes selected at the Mlochow
Research Center. All genotypes will be compared based on the
evaluation of their resistance to late blight in foliage and
tubers, as well as their agronomic characteristics. The best
performers will be tested in the Toluca Valley of Mexico under
severe natural infection pressure. Toluca is an important
site for selecting durable resistance because the sexual phase
of the fungus is active and potato is challenged with a complete
set of virulence factors at this location. To evaluate their
breeding potential value progeny of selected genotypes will
be also evaluated for resistance and tuber characteristics
both in Poland and the USA.Materials
generated by the project will be in the public domain and
available to scientists and potato breeders in the USA and
Poland. Project Participants: Dr. Maria T. Sieczka, and Dr.
Ewa Guzowska (IHAR); USA: Charles R. Brown and John P. Helgeson,
USDA/ARS Sponsor: USDA/FAS.
Russia
Population Structure
of Phytophthora Infestans Casual Agent of Late Blight in Potato
and Tomato Crops in Siberia and Russian Far East.
Abstract: Recent migrations of Phytophthora
infestans, the casual agent of potato and tomato late
blight have affected most of the world during the 1980s and
1990s. Immigrant strains have brought new pathogenicity characteristics
that have exacerbated late blight in potatoes and tomatoes
throughout the world. Accurate understanding of immigrant
strains and their novel characteristics is crucial to the
construction of appropriate control strategies. This proposal
will characterize populations of P. Infestans in Siberia and
the Russian Far East so that appropriate modifications to
potato and tomato late blight control can be implemented.
The proposal involves collection of isolates in Siberia and
the Russian far East, and their subsequent characterization
both at Moscow University and at Cornell University. The results
will provide the basis for more effective, environmental benign
disease control strategies. Project Leaders: Russia: Yuri
Dyakov, Moscow State University; U.S.: William E. Fry, Cornell
University. Sponsor: U.S. Civilian Research and Development
Foundation.
