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Threat of Brown Rot of Potato and Existing Resistance

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Abstract

Brown rot of potatoes caused by Ralstonia solanacearum is common in developing countries. Historically, brown rot losses in the United States have been restricted to southern states. This trend will most likely change with new Ralstonia introductions and temperature variability. A cold tolerant Ralstonia strain was used in this study to compare resistance between 18 wild accessions from eight species, nine accessions from the International Potato Center (CIP), and seven common US cultivars. Testing was done at both 18 °C and 30 °C. Of the wild potato species tested, S. commersonii and S. microdontum were the most resistant. CIP accessions varied from moderately resistant to very resistant. Four of the US cultivars were also moderately resistant. With certain accessions temperature played a role in resistance with high temperatures usually increasing severity of disease and cool temperatures promoting the occurrence of asymptomatic plants. The resistance observed appears to be partial, multigenic resistance.

Resumen

La pudrición café de la papa causada por Ralstonia solanacearum es común en países en desarrollo. Históricamente, las pérdidas por pudrición café en los Estados Unidos se ha restringido a los estados del sur. Esta tendencia muy probablemente cambiará con nuevas introducciones de Ralstonia y variabilidad de la temperatura. En este estudio se usó una variante de Ralstonia tolerante al frío para comparar la resistencia entre 18 accesiones silvestres de ocho especies, nueve accesiones del Centro Internacional de la Papa (CIP), y siete variedades comunes de EU. La prueba se hizo a 18 °C y 30 °C. De las especies silvestres probadas, S. commersonii y S. microdontum fueron las mas resistentes. Las accesiones del CIP variaron de moderadamente resistentes a muy resistentes. Cuatro de las variedades de EU también fueron moderadamente resistentes. Con algunas accesiones la temperatura jugó un papel en la resistencia, con altas temperaturas usualmente aumentando la severidad de la enfermedad y bajas temperaturas promoviendo la ocurrencia de plantas asintomáticas. La resistencia observada parece ser parcial, resistencia multigénica.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the USDA Floral Industry Task Force specific cooperative agreement and the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences for providing the funds for this research.

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Correspondence to D. J. Norman.

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Norman, D.J., Yuen, J.M.F. & Bocsanczy, A.M. Threat of Brown Rot of Potato and Existing Resistance. Am. J. Potato Res. 97, 272–277 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12230-020-09775-3

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