News on Phytophthora from Northern America

April 29, 2023

'Surprise' discovery could help protect potato and tomato crops against late blight

In 2014, Charlottetown-based research scientist Bourlaye Fofana was looking for a way to make plant products healthier by adding the antioxidant selenium.

April 25, 2023

New Portable Device Uses Smartphone-Based Spectroscopy to Detect Late Blight Disease in Potato Crops

The device has the potential to transform the way that farmers detect and manage plant diseases, leading to more efficient and sustainable agriculture practices.

Antioxidants, a booster shot for late blight prevention in potatoes

February 02, 2023

Selenium: a booster shot for late blight prevention in potatoes

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) scientists have discovered that selenium, a micronutrient and anti-oxidant activates genes in potatoes that boosts the plant's immunity and helps in the prevention of late blight.

September 18, 2020

Potato Diseases and Tips to Manage them in Storage

A key requirement for a longtime potato storage is that the storage conditions match the needs and end use of the crop. These requirements of can be assessed before harvest by doing several test digs which allow to determine the distribution and level of tuber infection.

February 14, 2020

PEI Potato Farms Using New Decision Support Tools to Improve Use of Crop Protectants

A growing number of Prince Edward Island potato farms are taking advantage of new technology to improve their use of crop protectants, including fungicides used to prevent late blight.

November 08, 2019

Phytophthora infestans, causing late blight in potatoes, has a virus accomplice

A research team has identified a virus infecting Phytophthora infestans, the pathogen causing late blight in potatoes and tomatoes, that appears to increase the pathogen's ability to cause the disease.

October 14, 2019

Researchers using advanced imaging to detect blight in potatoes

Researchers in the WARF Accelerator program are using advanced imaging technology to detect late blight in potatoes, which famously led to the Irish potato famine in the mid-nineteenth century.

August 13, 2019

Late blight detected in central Wisconsin, southern Washington

Late blight has been confirmed in a potato field in central Wisconsin.

June 11, 2019

Cornell University improves global access to potato breeding material

Plant breeders and geneticists of Cornell University have released more than 50 potato varieties since 1908. Now they are expanding their efforts to make more wild potato seeds available to potato breeders around the world.

August 06, 2018

ARS scientists streamline process to introduce multiple genes - as is required to make potatoes resistant to late blight

Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists in Albany, California, have found a way to streamline the process that scientists use to insert multiple genes into a crop plant. Simplot is planning to use it to introduce multiple genes into potatoes to make them resistant to late blight

July 09, 2018

Idaho potato crop on track despite early cool weather

Idaho potato fields looked good as of early July as plants closed in over rows, signaling the tubers are preparing to grow strongly amid the hot-day, cool-night march toward harvest.

June 10, 2018

Late blight look-alike spotted in potatoes in the Southern United States

Jean Ristaino, a professor at North Carolina State University with emphasis in research on Phytophthora infestans, reported on a late blight look-alike from tomato and potato in North Carolina.

Idaho Growers Benefit from Improved Spore Sampling

May 31, 2018

Spore Sampling may alert Idaho Potato Growers faster of Late Blight threat

Potato growers in Idaho will now have the opportunity to learn about the presence of damaging fungal pathogens much earlier, thanks to the efforts of research staff at the University of Idaho. The research team, led by James Woodhall, has placed 14 spore samplers in potato fields across the Snake River Valley.

March 14, 2018

Teen scientist wins USD 250,000 with late blight prediction model

Benjamin 'Benjy' Firester, 18, of New York City, won the top award in the Regeneron Science Talent Search 2018 with a mathematical model that uses disease data to predict how weather patterns could spread late blight spores.

August 05, 2017

New Wisconsin State laws force potato growers to apply best practices

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker signed two new measures involving the potato industry last Wednesday. One law makes use of certified seed potatoes mandatory, the other enforces a faster response to the presence of late blight

Innate® Second Generation Potato Receives Approval in Canada

August 03, 2017

Second Generation Innate® Potatoes Receive Approval in Canada

Health Canada and Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) have completed the food, feed, and environmental safety assessments of the J.R. Simplot Company’s second generation of Innate® potatoes. The authorizations enable the potatoes to be imported, planted, and sold in Canada.

March 20, 2017

US government approved 3 more Simplot GMO potato types for cultivation and sale

The US federal government has given the final OK to three more types of potatoes genetically engineered by Boise’s J.R. Simplot Co. to resist Phytophthora - the pathogen that caused the Irish potato famine.

January 04, 2017

Study Provides Evidence on Movement of Potato Famine Pathogen

North Carolina State University research delves into the movement and evolution of the pathogen that caused the Irish potato famine in the 1840's - Phytophthora infestans -, which set down roots in the United States before attacking Europe