New strain of debilitating potato disease discovered in Pennsylvania

Penn State University reports that a research team at the university has found a new strain of blackleg, also known as soft rot, in potatoes grown in the state.

The research team collected samples of tubers exhibiting symptoms of the pathogen and isolated, cultured and identified 456 samples of bacteria infecting the potatoes, the university reported. Bacteria in the Pectobacterium species Dickeya species cause blackleg and soft rot.

Penn State reports the research team found a strain of Dickeya bacteria that had not been reported in the state. The university said the research team hopes that by identifying these bacteria researchers will better be able to develop detection and management strategies.

“The losses in the Maine potato industry, as well as the importance of the potato industry here in Pennsylvania and to the potato chip industry, necessitated that we determine what pathogens may be causing these outbreaks,” Carolee Bull, a professor the College of Agricultural Sciences, told the university. “We were worried that new pathogens had entered the U.S., including the very devastating Dickeya solani.”