Potato late blight in the Netherlands, a thing of the past? New frontiers in resistance breeding and disease management

Potato late blight, caused by the oomycete Phytophthora infestans, has a long history as a major problem in potato cultivation. Host resistance was introduced and overcome and a new, more versatile and aggressive, pathogen population was introduced into the Netherlands an Europe leading to a situation in which potato late blight is almost exclusively controlled through an intensive use of fungicides. A growing societal concern about the chemical inputs into the food production chain, has inspired two research programmes specifically targeted at potato late blight: the Umbrella Plan Phytophthora (P. infestans biology, ecology and late blight management) and DuRPh, Healthy potato production: development of durable Phytophthora resistance applying GMO methods The Umbrella plan Phytophthora was initialised in 2003 aiming to reduce the environmental impact of late blight control by 75% within 10 years. In a unique management structure the program is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality but management is in the hands of the Dutch potato industry. Research within the umbrella plan is structured in 3 themes and a toolbox in which results are evaluated for their practical value. The MasterPlan Phytophthora, a growers initiative, then communicates the results to the Dutch potato growers. This integrated approach has already yielded a significant reduction of the environmental impact due to late blight control. DuRPh, initialised in 2006, is using GMO methodology to detect, clone and marker free transfer major resistance genes to existing varieties. Societal benefits comprise reduced costs of control, an improved environment and a boost to fundamental research. The cisgene approach using only potato genes combined with marker free transformation may contribute to public acceptance of GMO food. The program serves as a proof of principle for the application of GMO techniques and their results for breeding and disease control purposes. Examples of some of the questions studied are: How can the detection efficiency of major (R-) genes in wild species, subsequent isolation and stacking of these genes in existing varieties be improved? How do we develop adequate resistance management strategies for the temporal and spatial deployment of major genes? How to study societal resistance and acceptance mechanisms regarding this specific GMO (marker free and cisgene) approach? The programme integrates related projects, is pre-competitive and its results will be published. Co-operation with the Dutch breeding industry will be sought actively as well as EU FP7 co-funding.vokMyynti MTT Tietopalvelut 31600 Jokioine