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- British scientists have developed genetically modified potatoes that are resistant to the vegetable's biggest threat - blight. A three-year trial has shown that these potatoes can thrive despite being exposed to late onset blight. That disease has plagued farmers for generations and it triggered the Irish potato famine in the 1840s.
www.bbc.com › news › science-environment-26189722Genetically modified potatoes 'resist late blight' - BBC News
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Oct 20, 2022 · ABSTRACT. Late blight, caused by Phytophthora infestans, is the most devastating disease in potato production. Here, we show full late blight resistance in a location with a genetically diverse pathogen population with the use of GM potato stacked with three resistance (R) genes over three seasons.
May 18, 2018 · By Michelle Starr. (Nastco/iStock) A potato variety genetically engineered to resist potato blight can help reduce the use of chemical fungicides by up to 90 percent, according to a new study - drastically reducing the environmental impact of potato farming.
Feb 27, 2020 · According to Magembe, results from field trials conducted by the National Agricultural Organization (NARO) in Uganda showed that bioengineered (genetically engineered) potatoes could be cultivated without use of fungicides, while non-bioengineered potatoes were rapidly killed by late blight disease.
- Background Information
- How Are Potatoes Genetically Modified?
- Why Is GM Needed For Late Blight Resistance, Why Not Use Traditional Breeding?
- Tuber Quality Traits: Why Is Bruising An Issue?
Late blight caused the Irish Potato famine of the 19th Century. It results from infection by the fungal-like mould Phytophthora infestans, causing losses of $6B/ year for potato and tomato production.Potato is the fourth most important crop in the world and widely grown in Europe, USA, South America, Canada, China, India and Africa.Potato is easy to modify using strains of nature’s genetic engineer the bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens which transfers specific genes into cells of potato. Pieces of potato stem are used for making the genetically modified potato plants. Cells which have received the gene from the bacterium form a mass of undifferentiated cells, or callus, on ...
Traditional breeding techniques have failed to produce varieties that have durable resistance to late blight. This is because they have tended to introduce resistance genes one at a time which are easily overcome by the pathogen. Professor Jonathan Jones says: “If you put in three effective genes at once they are all in effect saving each other bec...
Bruising causes millions of potatoes to be thrown away every year. Maris Piper lines used in these trials have a gene switched off, or silenced, which makes the tuber less prone to bruising and ensure that the potato meets customer quality specifications. “There is a lot of wastage from bruising. Potato harvest is in September/October so to ensure ...
Feb 17, 2014 · British scientists have developed genetically modified potatoes that are resistant to the vegetable's biggest threat - blight. A three-year trial has shown that these potatoes can thrive despite...
Dec 5, 2019 · Sainsbury Laboratory | December 5, 2019. Late blight is major threat to potato plants. Credit: Fry, Molecular Plant Pathology (2008) A genetically modified potato with improved tuber...
