Population structure of Phytophthora infestans in potato crops from Antioquia, Boyaca, Cundinamarca, and Norte de Santander (Colombia)

Abstract

Potato late blight (Phytophthora infestans), is this crop's most important disease in Colombia. An alternative in reducing the high dependence on fungicides to control the potato late blight includes developing resistant plant varieties, such as the ones recently delivered in Colombia (Pastusa Suprema and Esmeralda), which show high acceptance levels among growers. However, maintenance of resistance in these materials, as well as the effectiveness of systemic fungicides used to control this disease depends on management practices and evolutionary dynamics of P. infestans in each of the potato-growing regions. This research evaluated such a condition through a population structure study of isolates obtained from the departments of Antioquia, Boyaca, Cundinamarca, and Norte de Santander, using AFLP (Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism) molecular markers. Results indicated the occurrence of low levels of genetic variability within each of the four populations and an important population differentiation among them, especially regarding the population of P. infestans from Antioquia against the middle-east populations. This suggests that besides the tests usually made in Cundinamarca and Boyaca to evaluate resistant materials for P. infestans, different tests in Antioquia should also be included.

Keywords

• AFLP
• genetic variability
• molecular markers
• potato late blight
• AFLP
• variabilidad genética
• marcadores moleculares
• gota de la papa