Inheritance of Resistance to Blight (Phytophthora infestans) in Potatoes: Strain C and its Relationships

Abstract

SynopsisThe common strain A of the blight fungus (Phytophthora infestans) and two new strains, B and C, have been employed in testing potato varieties and seedling progenies, bred from the wild species S. demissum, for resistance to the disease. The reactions of seedlings to infection with strain C are compared with those of strains A and B. The C strain is shown to be more virulent than A, since it attacks some A resistant as well as all A susceptible plants. Likewise the B strain is more virulent than A. The difference between the pathogenicity of strains B and C, however, is not one of degree of virulence; one plant may be B resistant-C susceptible, while another may be B susceptible-C resistant. This difference is essentially of a qualitative nature. Resistance to these strains, which is manifested by the hypersensitive condition of the plant's cells, is produced in the presence of three major independent genes, Re, Rb and Rbc, which confer resistance to strains A and C, A and B, and A, B and C respectively. Segregations in each case are similar in type, and are characterised by an excess of recessive individuals.