POTPAT
Potato pathogen populations in
changing climatic conditions of Norway
and Poland and the mechanisms of their
interaction with host
INTRODUCTION - POTATO
• Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is the fourth most important
crop for worldwide agriculture
• Potato was introduced to Europe by Spanish explorers around
1570
• Today, It is cultivated in ca. 126 countries
• Estimated total production is more than 325 million
tonnes/year
• The majority of production (ca.80%) occurs in Europe and Asia
INTRODUCTION - PATHOGENS
• Potato is affected by approximately 160 diseases
• Fifty diseases of fungal origin, ten of bacterial origin,
forty of viral origin and some other of unknown source
• Diseases may influence potato production in any stage
of the crop growth and in storage
• Diseases can affect foliage, tubers or both
• From all pathogenes: fungi (Phytophthora infestans)
and bacteria (soft rot Enterobacteriaceae) are
recognized as important problem
THE PROJECT BACKGROUND
• The annual potato harvest in Poland is estimated at
8.7 million tonnes while in Norway ca. 300
thousand tonnes are produced annually
• Based on observations climate change has a
significant impact on potato cultivation in these two
countries
• The project is focused on the two important
pathogens of potato: Phytophthora infestans
causing late blight and bacteria Pectobacterium spp.
and Dickeya spp. causing black leg and soft rot of
tubers.
THE PATHOGENS in THE PROJECT
Phytophthora infestans
Pectobacterium spp. and Dickeya spp.
• cause late blight (or potato blight)
• cause soft rot and blackleg of potato
• the pathogen can also infect other
Solanaceae
• impossible to control using ordinary
field practices
• difficult to control by ordinary
methods
• high and expensive losses in
agriculture (in potato 30 million
USD/year)
• Economically significant pathogen,
infections cause 6 billion USD/year
POTPAT PROJECT
• acronym came from two words: POTATO and PATHOGENS (so pathogens
of potato)
• Project of 3 scientific institutions:
The Plant Breeding and Acclimatization Institute (IHAR) –
National Research Institute, Młochów, POLAND (Project
Promotor – Project Leader),
BIOFORSK, NORWAY (Partner 1)
University of Gdansk, POLAND (Partner 2)
THE BUDGET and TIME FRAME
• 4 103 400 PLN (1 000 000 EUR)
effective (after reduction) 3 816 162
PLN
• divided between the partners and work packages (WP):
WP1 – Pectinolytic bacteria (2 251 536 PLN)
WP2 – Potato late blight (1 564 626 PLN)
Time frame:
07/2013 – 06/2016
THE MAIN AIM
The project aims to
provide knowledge on
all three elements in
the disease triangle:
pathogen, plant and
environment.
THE SPECIFIC AIMS
• To characterize samples of current populations of the late blight pathogen – P.
• infestans (WP2) and pectinolytic Pectobacterium spp. and Dickeya spp. (WP1) in
Poland and Norway
• To evaluate resistance of various potato genotypes to selected isolates of pathogens
• To estimate the influence of the weather on both host resistance and virulence
• expression
• To identify inoculum sources and disease pressure in relation to weather
• To develop methods for identification and detection of soft rot bacteria in seed
• potatoes
• To develop a weather based forecasting model for potato late blight incorporating
• the effect of resistance.
THE TEAM
UG
IHAR
BIOFORSK
From the left: Emil Stefańczyk (IHAR-PIB), Robert Czajkowski (UG), Jadwiga Śliwka (IHAR-PIB),
Aleksandra Szwejk (UG), May Bente Brurberg (Bioforsk), Marta Brylińska (IHAR-PIB), Ragnhild Naerstad
(Bioforsk), Iwona Wasilewicz-Flis (IHAR-PIB), Renata Lebecka (IHAR-PIB)
METHODOLOGY
• The project is organized in two Work Packages (WP1
and WP2) according to the studied pathogen
• Methods used correspond to the studied pathogen
(e. g. detection, molecular characterization,
determination of features)
• The added value of the project is a collaboration
between two countries and complementation of the
work in Polish and Norwegian research groups
PROPOSED DIRECT PROJECT OUTCOMES
• Isolation and selection of representative panel of pectinolytic bacteria isolates
• Development of standardized virulence assays for testing pectinolytic bacteria
• Development and selection of standardized assays to test critical bacterial population
level causing infection on potato tubers
• Generation of knowledge on genes-of-interest important for finding new molecular
• genetic markers for pectinolytic bacteria
• Identification of effective resistance genes providing high late blight resistance identified
in Poland and in Norway
• Data on P. infestans populations attacking the field trial in Poland and in Norway
collected in the three vegetation seasons
• Development of a weather based forecasting model for potato late blight incorporating
the effect of resistance.
INTENDED LONG-THERM GOALS
• Strong international collaboration
between laboratories in Poland and
Norway
• Dissemination of the project results
among the potato growers and
breeders
• Better understanding of disease
problem and disease pressure by the
growers and potato producers
INFORMATION FOR GROWERS
THANK YOUR FOR YOUR ATTENTION