EuroBlight, the potato late blight network for Europe, has revealed the findings of its ongoing work to chart changes in the European population of the pathogen, a major effort which saw almost 1,500 samples from 16 countries genotyped in last year’s growing season.
Some of the initial conclusions include the fact that some clones dominate across European crops showing that the continent’s growers and industry share management challenges and that new clones continued to spread in 2017, displacing other populations.
EuroBlight notes that: “Much primary inoculum is locally generated and spread. Better management of inoculum sources would aid management.” An advisory pamphlet on this subject was produced by ENDURE’s potato case study team and is available here in English, German and Italian, along with versions with summaries in Dutch and French.
The group points to the highly diverse genotypes in its ‘others’ category and discusses the consequences. “High genetic diversity increases the risk of blight management problems due to a greater probability of pathogen types evolving virulence against novel host resistance genes and reduced sensitivity to specific fungicide active ingredients,” it says.
Potato late blight, caused by Phytophthora infestans , has been a serious threat to European potato production for more than 170 years and EuroBlight says: “Although we are now better equipped to control the disease than in the past, evolving pathogen populations continue to challenge integrated management practices. Rapid changes in P. infestans populations causing late blight in Europe, America and Asia, including the emergence of strains with increased aggressiveness or reduced fungicide sensitivity, have been observed.
“Indeed, the changes in P. infestans populations directly influence the development and deployment of resistant cultivars, the performance of disease warning systems and the efficacy of plant protection products.”
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