LWV24045 Molecular virulence monitoring of Phythophthora infestans populations (TS-02-208-043)

Phytophthora resistance in potato varieties is a crucial part of future management strategies that use less and less crop protection products. However, the build-up of virulence (read: the ability to break down resistance of a variety) in the Phytophthora population must then be controlled. This can be achieved by accurately monitoring the Phytophthora population and through the deployment of potato varieties with unsurmountable stacks of resistance (R) genes. For both purposes, in this project,  knowledge gaps will be filled about the way virulence emerges and builds up in the Phytophthora population. This knowledge will be deployed to develop early warning systems to measure virulence live during the different phases of the growing season. We will test how these early warning system can be deployed and can inform decision support systems. Secondly, we will deploy the knowledge about Phytophthora virulence to design tools to functionally test breeding material with multiple stacked R genes. The total package aims to prevent virulence build-up and irreversible resistance breakdown using a minimum amount of crop protection products, thereby enabling the transition to sustainable potato production. The potato late blight system is ideally suited to be developed to this next level of durable disease protection and will set an example for other agricultural crop protection schemes.