Phytophthora infestans

Taxobox
name = "Phytophthora infestans"
domain = Eukaryota
regnum = Chromalveolata
phylum = Heterokontophyta
classis = Oomycetes
ordo = Peronosporales
familia = Pythiaceae
genus = "Phytophthora"
species = "P. infestans"
binomial = "Phytophthora infestans"
binomial_authority = (Mont.) de Bary

"Phytophthora infestans" is an oomycete that causes the serious potato disease known as late blight or potato blight. (Early blight, caused by "Alternaria solani", is also often called 'potato blight'). It was a major culprit in the 1845 Irish and 1846 Highland potato famines. The organism can also infect tomatoes and some other members of the Solanaceae. It is currently being remedied by genetic engineering, taking a resistance gene from the plant "Solanum bulbocastanum" and introducing it into the genome of cultivated varieties of the potato.

Biology

The spores of this water mold overwinter on infected tubers, particularly those that are left in the ground after the previous year's harvest, in cull piles, soil or infected volunteer plants and are spread rapidly in warm and wet conditions.Paul A. Koepsell and Jay W. Pscheidt. "1994 Pacific Northwest Plant Disease Control Handbook," Oregon State University Press (1994): p 165.] This can have devastating effects by destroying entire crops.

Spores develop on the leaves, spreading through the crop when temperatures are above 10C (50°F) and humidity is over 75% for 2 days or more. Rain can wash spores into the soil where they infect young tubers, or else spores can be blown in from miles away by the wind.

The early stages of blight are easily missed, and not all plants are affected at once. Symptoms include the appearance of dark blotches on leaf tips and plant stems. White mould will appear under the leaves in humid conditions and the whole plant may quickly collapse. Infected tubers develop grey or dark patches that are reddish brown beneath the skin, and quickly decay to a foul-smelling mush caused by the infestation of secondary soft bacterial rots. Seemingly healthy tubers may rot later when in store.

Strains

Up until the 1970s, there was only one type of blight (A1) in the UK, and this was unable to produce resistant spores that could survive the winter. There are now two types (A1 and A2) which can mate and after that produce resistant spores, although the indications so far are that this rarely, if ever, happens in the UK. Mating can occur only between moulds of different mating-types and is required for the production of resistant spores.

Management

"P. infestans" is still a difficult disease to control today by ordinary methods. There are many options in agriculture for the control of both damage to the foliage and infections of the tuber. Potatoes fill throughout the season, but it is estimated the assimilates stop going to the tubers (they stop growing) when 75% of the canopy is destroyed. [Assessment of Plant Diseases and Losses by W C James. Annual Review of Phytopathology Vol. 12 p 27-48 (1974)] ­ This must also be taken into account when growing potatoes, as it means that plants grown do not have to be 100% resistant to blight.

Genetic engineering

In recent years, a resistance gene effective against all known strains of blight has been identified and successfully copied from a wild relative of the potato, "Solanum bulbocastanum", and introduced into the genome of cultivated varieties of the potato. [ [http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/100/16/9128 Gene RB cloned from Solanum bulbocastanum confers broad spectrum resistance to potato late blight, Junqi Song et al, PNAS 2003] ]

ources of inoculum

Blight can be controlled by limiting the source of inoculum. Only good quality seeds obtained from certified suppliers should be planted. Often discarded potatoes from the previous season and self-sown tubers can act as sources of inoculum. [ MJ Zwankhuizen, F Govers, JC Zadoks "Development of potato late blight epidemics: Disease foci, disease gradients, and infection sources" Phytopathology, Volume 88, 1998]

Environmental conditions

There are several environmental conditions that are conducive to "P. infestans". By using weather forecasting systems, such as BLITECAST, if the following conditions occur as the canopy of the crop closes, then the use of fungicides is recommended to prevent an epidemic. [Scheduling fungicide applications for potato late blight with Blitecast by DR MacKenzie. Plant Disease Volume 65 pages 394-399 (1981]

*A Beaumont Period is a period of 48 consecutive hours, in at least 46 of which the hourly readings of temperature and relative humidity at a given place have not been less than 20°C (68°F) and 75%, respectively. [ [http://www.eumetcal.org/euromet/glossary/beaumont.htm Beaumont period ] ]

*A Smith Period is at least two consecutive days where min temperature is 10°C (50°F) or above and on each day at least 11 hours when the relative humidity is greater than 90%. [http://www.potatocrop.com/blight/blightaboutsmith.asp]

Potato varieties

Potato varieties vary in their susceptibility to blight. Most early varieties are very vulnerable; so that the crop matures before blight starts (usually in July) plant them early. Many old crop varieties, such as King Edward potato are also very suceptible but are grown because they are wanted commercially. Maincrop varieties which are very slow to develop blight include Cara, Stirling, Teena, Torridon, Remarka and Romano. Some so-called resistant varieties can resist some strains of the blight and not others, so their performance may vary depending on which are around. These crops tend to have had polygenic resistance bred into them, and are known as field resistant. New varieties such as Sarpo Mira and Sarpo Axona show great resistance to blight even in areas of heavy infestation. These varieties are likely to gain great popularity as consumers increasingly embrace organically produced crops and reject food items that have been grown using fungicides and other chemicals.

Use of fungicides

Fungicides for the control of potato blight are normally only used in a preventative manner, perhaps in conjunction with disease forecasting. In susceptible varieties, sometimes fungicide applications may be needed weekly. An early spray is most effective. Metalaxyl was a fungicide that was marketed for use against "P. infestans", but suffered serious resistance issues when used on its own.

Control of tuber blight

Ridging is often used to reduce tuber contamination by blight. This normally involves piling soil or mulch around the stems of the potato blight meaning the pathogen has farther to travel to get to the tuber. [J. R. Glass, K. B. Johnson, and M. L. Powelson, "Assessment of Barriers to Prevent the Development of Potato Tuber Blight". 2001. Plant Disease Volume 85.]

The canopy can also be destroyed around 2 weeks before harvest. This can be done via a contact herbicide or using sulfuric acid to burn off the foliage.

Historical impact

The effects of "Phytophthora infestans" in Ireland in 1845-57 were one of the factors which caused over one million to starve to death and forced another two million to emigrate from affected countries. Most commonly referenced is the Great Irish Famine, during the late 1840s.

The origin of "Phytophthora infestans" can be traced to a valley in the highlands of central Mexico. The first recorded instances of the disease were in the United States, in Philadelphia and New York City in early 1843. Winds then spread the spores, and in 1845 it was found from Illinois to Nova Scotia, and from Virginia to Ontario. The fungus crossed the Atlantic Ocean with a shipment of seed potatoes destined for Belgian farmers in 1845. [cite news |first=Reader |last=John |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=The Fungus That Conquered Europe |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/17/opinion/17reader.html |quote= |publisher=New York Times |date=March 17, 2008 |accessdate=2008-03-18 ]

References

*Erwin, Donald C. and Olaf K. Ribeiro. "Phytophthora Diseases Worldwide", American Phytopathological Society (1996).
*Lucas, J.A. (editor), R. C. Shattock (editor), D. S. Shaw (editor), Louise Cooke (editor). "Phytophthora (British Mycological Society Symposia)", Cambridge University Press (1991)
*Govers, Francine and Mark Gijzens. Phytophthora Genomics: The Plant-Destroyer's Genome Decoded, "Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions" 19(12):1295-1301 (December 2006).

External links

* [http://www.btny.purdue.edu/USDA-ARS/Goodwin_lab/results/Phytoph_biblio.html Online Phytophtora bibliography]
* [http://www.barc.usda.gov/psi/vl/lateblight.htm USDA-BARC Phytophthora infestans page]
* [http://www.tigr.org/tdb/e2k1/pima1/index.shtml Phytophthora infestans Mitochondrial Genome Project]
* [http://www.cipotato.org International Potato Center]
* [http://www.pfgd.org/ Phytophthora Functional Genomics Database]