b"plant chemicals intercepted the bacteria's missiles, they cut off their radiosays. The resulting potato lines are immune to a very wide diversity of blight communications, and together this encouraged the bacteria to remain friendlyraces.neighbours, explains Adam Heuberger, a CSU associate professor involved inThis Rpi-amr1 gene now looks like one of the best resistance genes in our the research. armoury against late blight. By combining Rpi-amr1 with two other resistance This wild potato is also resistant to insects, viruses, and fungi. The ques- genes, I think it can make a durably blight-resistant potato, Jones says in the tion is always why, and then how, we can translate this information to improverelease.society. There is much to learn by studying wild relatives of food and ornamental plants, Heuberger adds.Red Clover Can Help PotatoesA study from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) has shown red clover can New Late Blight Resistance Genes Discovered be beneficial if planted prior to potatoes, AAFC says in a news release. Yefang New late blight resistance genes have been found in a wide range of wild SolanumJiang, an AAFC researcher, recently completed a six-year study to find out how plants related to potatoes, a news release from The Sainsbury Laboratory says. red clover affects nitrogen levels in soil and water during a crop rotation in Jonathan Jones, a professor at The Sainsbury Laboratory, and his co-workersPrince Edward Island.found Solanum americanum, the ancestor of the widespread United KingdomThe red clover was planted and then plowed into the soil in the fall prior to wild plant Solanum nigrum (black nightshade) to be an excellent source of newpotatoes being planted. The crop became a source of nitrogen by acting as a resistance genes against late blight. Their research found the resistance genenatural fertilizer which helped potato plant growth, the release notes.Rpi-amr1 and its many variants. However, without adequately accounting the nitrogen from the clover, farm-Despite varying in sequence by up to 10 per cent, each Rpi-amr1varianters can over-apply synthetic fertilizer to potatoes if they follow the recommended enables the plant to detect the same virulence proteins of late blight, affordingP.E.I. provincial guidelines of 17 kg N/ha, explains Jiang in the release.protection from disease, the release notes. This excess nitrogen can enter groundwater, streams and estuaries in the The Rpi-amr1 resistance gene is being combined with two other resistanceform of nitrates which can affect water quality, the release says. Excess fertiliz-genes, Rpi-amr3 and Rpi-vnt1, in the commercial potato Maris Piper, the releaseer can also suppress potato yield. LIFEGARD YOUR CROPLow use rates that start to activate in the plant in just 3 hours.54 SPUDSMART.COM LifeGard is residue exempt & Zero PHI. SPRING 2021WWW.UAP.CA"