ABSTRACT
A total of 32 commercial cultivars grown in the United States and 15 potato breeding lines and non-U.S. cultivars were evaluated at Rosemount, MN for their reaction to the US-8 strain of Phytophthora infestans. Commercial red-, russet-, and white-skinned cultivars tested in the commercial cultivar trial (COMC) in 1996 and 1997 were susceptible (S) to moderately susceptible (MS) to this organism, except for Elba, which ranked as moderately resistant (MR). Yellow-fleshed cvs. Hertha, Santé, and Agria were screened in the late blight nursery (LB1) in 1997 and 1998 and classified as S to MS while Island Sunshine, Brador, and Aziza were classified as MR. The Scottish breeding line G6582-3 and U.S. breeding lines A90586-11, AWN86514-2, AWN85624-5, B0692-4, B0718-3, and B0767-2 were classified as resistant (R). Comparison among entries was based on the area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC). Spearman rank correlation for AUDPC in the 1996 and 1997 COMC trials at 14 to 18 days after inoculation (r = 0.65, P < 0.01) was greater than any other interval tested. The Spearman rank correlation for AUDPC in the 1997 and 1998 LB1 trials at 14 to 18 days after inoculation was r = 0.87, P < 0.01 and increased only slightly in successive assessment dates, suggesting that, in Minnesota, effective evaluation of the foliar infection of late blight can occur at 18 days after inoculation or later. The average tuber blight incidence for the COMC trials at harvest was 10.0% in 1996 and 9.7% in 1997. The average tuber blight incidence for the LB1 trials at harvest was 4.3% in 1997 and 14.6% in 1998. Pearson correlations between tuber blight incidence and foliar disease for the COMC trials was very low; however, for the LBl trials, it was significant in both 1997 (r = 0.53, P < 0.01) and 1998 (r = 0.53, P < 0.01). Asymptomatic tubers harvested from the COMC trials developed additional tuber blight when stored 28 days at ambient temperatures and still more when stored for another 5 months at 5°C. Surviving tubers of nine entries were planted in field trials during 1997 and 1998 to determine if plants that develop from tubers exposed to P. infestans could manifest late blight in the subsequent season. Late blight failed to develop throughout the trials in either year.
