An international consortium including the James Hutton Institute which tracks the European spatial distribution of Phytophthora infestans, the plant pathogen responsible for potato late blight, has updated the distribution of the pathogen by adding new data that visualises the distribution and diversity of dominant clones in the 2016 crop. The results reveal widespread infection by 2 new clones and novel genetically diverse isolates in some regions.
Plant pathologists from the EuroBlight consortium – which includes Aarhus University, Wageningen University and INRA – working with industry and research partners, have presented their latest report on its pathogen monitoring in potato crops. The report, which is available on the research group website, collates information from over 1,600 samples collected and genotyped in 2016.
As in previous years, ‘FTA cards’ were distributed to disease ‘scouts’ from across the industry who visited blight-infected crops. Disease lesions were pressed on the cards and returned to the laboratories where the pathogen DNA was fingerprinted at the James Hutton Institute and INRA, Rennes. The DNA fingerprint data was used to define the clonal lineages of the pathogen and combined with geo-location data to plot the diversity across Europe.
In many parts of Europe, disease pressure was generally high and early in 2016, which resulted in a higher than average sample density and distribution. Over 1,600 samples were thus collected by 20 partners across 26 European countries. This data also includes that from the AHDB Potatoes ‘Fight Against Blight’ campaign in Great Britain. The data from 2013-2016 now comprises over 5,250 samples from 34 countries. With the support of international groups, data is also entered for parts of Asia and North Africa.
James Hutton Institute researcher Dr David Cooke, who co-leads the EuroBlight study, said: “The pathogen population is constantly evolving which can challenge the effectiveness of disease management practices. In 2016 more than 70% of the samples were of defined clonal lineages that have been observed in previous seasons. Although some clones are widespread and have been present in Europe for more than a decade two recently emerged clones showed marked local expansion in the 2016 season. The other 30% of the population were genetically diverse isolates consistent with a source of oospore-borne inoculum. A clear regional pattern in the dominance of clones versus sexual recombinants was observed across Europe.”
Scientists from the Euroblight network continue to harmonise methods with other networks in the Americas and Asia and encourage continued co-operation between groups involved in managing late blight to exploit the database and tools for improved awareness and blight management on a global scale. Visit the Euroblight website for more details.
Companies and institutions that participated in the sampling and sponsored the project include ADAMA, AFBI, Agrifirm, Agriphar, AHDB Potatoes, ARVALIS-Institut du Végétal, BASF SE, Bayer CropScience AG, Bayerische Landesanstalt für Landwirtschaft, Belchim Crop Protection, Centre Wallon de Recherches Agronomiques, Certis, Cheminova, CropSolutions, Dupont de Nemours, Emsland Group, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Germicopa SAS, HZPC Holland B.V., Neiker, Nordisk Alkali, NIBIO, PCA, The Plant Breeding and Acclimatization Institute (IHAR), Profytodsd, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and Syngenta Agro GmbH.