One potato, two potato, three potato, four! Potatoes make appearances
on dinner tables the world over. They first evolved in the Andes
Mountains of South America, where Inca and pre-Inca farmers raised and
domesticated the tuberous root vegetables for centuries. Introduced to
every corner of the globe, potatoes have since become a huge staple
crop that can be grown almost anywhere under almost any conditions.
Despite their popularity with people, potatoes have a mortal enemy. Late potato blightA plant disease that attacks both potatoes and tomatoes. Late blight is caused by a fungal pathogen or germ that survives from one season to the next in infected potato tubers. is a fungal plant disease that originated in Mexico, and preyed upon wild potato plants. The blight sporesThe basic reproductive unit of a fungus. It serves the same role in the fungal life-cycle that seeds do in the life-cycle of a plant. spread through the air and land on potato plants. Once infected, the plants breed more spores, turning leaves spotted with lesions and tubers to mush. Those wild potatoes developed blight resistance, but that defense was slowly lost through the domesticationThe process of genetically adapting wild animals and plants into cultivated forms that suit the interests of human beings process. One big reason is that farmers plant chunks of potatoes rather than seeds, meaning that the offspring is virtually a clone. This weakens a domestic potatoes’ ability to fight off late blight attacks. In the 1840’s Irish farmers relied on only a few varieties of potatoes for almost all their food. None were resistant to blight. The fungus quickly spread and starvation killed over one million people starved and forced another million to emigrate.
Today, scientists John Helgeson and Jiming Jiang have created a blight resistant potato by re-introducing genes from potatoes’ wild ancestors.
Despite their popularity with people, potatoes have a mortal enemy. Late potato blightA plant disease that attacks both potatoes and tomatoes. Late blight is caused by a fungal pathogen or germ that survives from one season to the next in infected potato tubers. is a fungal plant disease that originated in Mexico, and preyed upon wild potato plants. The blight sporesThe basic reproductive unit of a fungus. It serves the same role in the fungal life-cycle that seeds do in the life-cycle of a plant. spread through the air and land on potato plants. Once infected, the plants breed more spores, turning leaves spotted with lesions and tubers to mush. Those wild potatoes developed blight resistance, but that defense was slowly lost through the domesticationThe process of genetically adapting wild animals and plants into cultivated forms that suit the interests of human beings process. One big reason is that farmers plant chunks of potatoes rather than seeds, meaning that the offspring is virtually a clone. This weakens a domestic potatoes’ ability to fight off late blight attacks. In the 1840’s Irish farmers relied on only a few varieties of potatoes for almost all their food. None were resistant to blight. The fungus quickly spread and starvation killed over one million people starved and forced another million to emigrate.
Today, scientists John Helgeson and Jiming Jiang have created a blight resistant potato by re-introducing genes from potatoes’ wild ancestors.
