Understanding the Temporal Dynamics of Invasive Late Blight Populations in India for Improved Management Practices

Tanmoy Dey, Sanjai K. Dwivedi, Sibnarayan Datta, David E. L. Cooke, Sanjoy Guha Roy (Lead / Corresponding author)

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

The microbial oomycete pathogen Phytophthora infestans causes severe epidemics of potato late blight in crops globally. Disease management benefits from an understanding of the diversity of pathogen populations. In this study, we explore the dynamics of P. infestans populations in the late blight-potato agro-ecosystem across the Indian subcontinent. Investigations of the macroecological observations at the field level and microbial ecological principles provided insights into future pathogen behavior. We use a comprehensive simple sequence repeat allele dataset to demonstrate that an invasive clonal lineage called EU_13_A2 has dominated populations over 14 years across India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. Increasing levels of subclonal variation were tracked over time and space, and, for the first time, populations in Asia were also compared with the source populations from Europe. Within India, a regional pathogen population structure was observed with evidence for local migration, cross-border movement between surrounding countries, and introductions via imports. There was also evidence of genetic drift and between-season transmission of more strongly pathogenic subclones with a complete displacement of some subclonal types. The limited introduction of novel genotypes and the use of resistant potato cultivars could contribute to the dominance of the 13_A2 lineage. The insights will contribute to the management of the pathogen in these key global potato production regions.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1810-1821
Number of pages12
JournalPhytopathology
Volume114
Issue number8
Early online date12 Aug 2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 20 Aug 2024

Keywords

  • epidemic
  • evolution
  • Phytophthora infestans
  • population dynamics

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Agronomy and Crop Science
  • Plant Science

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