Top 10 Potato Varieties in Maine and Their Resistances to Common Diseases

doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-5369554/v1

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Top 10 Potato Varieties in Maine and Their Resistances to Common Diseases

https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5369554/v1

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Potato production is frequently challenged by many diseases that can affect crop yield and quality, and growers need to implement various disease management strategies to prevent disease losses. One of the best such strategies is selecting disease resistant varieties, and to this end potato breeding programs perform disease resistance screenings every year. Some of the disease resistance data is publicly available, however, some are in internal potato breeding program reports. This study aims to provide a summary of disease resistance profiles of the top 10 Maine potato varieties against common diseases such as late blight, early blight, three strains of Potato virus Y (PVY), Potato leafroll virus (PLRV), Verticillium wilt, and soft rot caused by Dickeya and Pectobacterium species. The results indicate notable differences in disease resistance among the varieties, providing valuable insights for potato growers in Maine as well in other states.

Potato

breeding

disease resistance

PVY

soft rot

Potatoes are the most significant agricultural crop in Maine, holding a pivotal position in the state's economy. As of 2022, Maine is ranked 6th for potato acreage, 9th for value of sales nationally, and 9th in total production in the US (USDA-NASS, 2023, National Potato Council, 2024). The Maine potato industry had a total economic contribution of $1.3 billion in output, 6,571 jobs, and $237 million in labor income in 2022 (Gabe, 2024). The success of potato production, however, is constantly threatened by a range of diseases that can severely impact both yield and quality. To mitigate the effects of these diseases, selection of disease-resistant varieties is one of the most effective management strategies. Potato breeding programs, therefore, prioritize disease resistance screenings in their annual evaluations. Despite the importance of these screenings, much of the resulting data remains unpublished in peer-reviewed literature, residing instead within internal breeding program reports. The data that is available is scattered through various articles, requiring screening through literature for specific variety-disease resistance reports. This gap underscores the necessity for comprehensive studies that collate and analyze available disease resistance data.

This study addresses this need by generating detailed disease resistance profiles for the top 10 potato varieties that grow in Maine. The focus is on common fungal, bacterial, and viral potato diseases. By compiling and evaluating data from both published sources and breeding program records, the study aims to provide valuable insights that can guide growers in Maine and beyond in selecting varieties with superior disease resistance.

Variety Selection

The top 10 Maine potato varieties were selected according to the total certified seed acreage in the State of Maine 2024 seed potato certification book (Table 1).

Table 1

Total seed acreage and usage of the top 10 Maine potato varieties in 2024.
Variety	Total Certified Seed Acreage	Usage
Caribou Russet	1498	Tablestock and French fries
Russet Burbank	1183	French fries
Waneta	413	Chipping and tablestock
Lamoka	620	Chipping
Atlantic	467	Chipping
Snowden	367	Chipping
Dark Red Norland	234	Tablestock
Lehigh	206	Chipping and tablestock
Norwis	234	Chipping
Red LaSoda	114	Tablestock

PVY tuber necrosis assessments

Presence of tuber necrosis caused by the two necrotic PVY strains was assessed using a PVY demonstration plot during the 2024 season at the Aroostook Research Farm, Presque Isle, ME. Ten seed pieces of each variety were infected with PVY-O, PVY-N-Wi, and PVY-NTN prior to planting. Uninoculated seed pieces of all varieties were used as control. Each plot comprised five plants, which were planted on May 22, 2024, and a second set also with five plants was planted on June 6, 2024. After harvest, PVY necrotic ring symptoms were visually assessed on each variety.

Data Collection

For the diseases except PVY tuber necrosis, disease resistance data were collected through two methods:

Literature Research: Comprehensive review of existing studies and publications on potato disease susceptibilities.

University of Maine Potato Breeding Program Trials: Empirical data from trials conducted over the last few decades as part of the University of Maine Potato Breeding Program. These include field trials in artificially inoculated fields for diseases such as early blight, Verticillium wilt and common scab, and laboratory assays for trials on Fusarium dry rot and soft rot.

Disease selection

The disease susceptibilities of the varieties were investigated for late blight (Phytophthora infestans), early blight (Alternaria solani), mosaic for PVY-O, PVY-N-Wi, and PVY-NTN, tuber necrosis for PVY-N-Wi and PVY-NTN, Potato leafroll virus (PLRV), Verticillium wilt (Verticillium dahliae), soft rot (Dickeya and Pectobacterium spp.), pink rot (Phytophthora erythroseptica), Pythium leak (Pythium spp.), Fusarium dry rot (Fusarium spp.), common scab (Streptomyces spp.), powdery scab on tubers and root galls (Spongospora subterranea f. sp. subterranea), and Potato mop-top virus (PMTV) tuber necrosis.

The results of disease resistance assessments for the top 10 Maine potato varieties are summarized in Table 2.

Table 2

Disease Susceptibilities of Top 10 Maine Potato Varieties
	Caribou Russet	Atlantic	Russet Burbank	Waneta	Lamoka	Snowden	Dark Red Norland	Lehigh	Norwis	Red LaSoda
Late Blight	S_US−23	S_US−23¹⁹	S_US−8 MS_US−23¹⁹	MS_US−8⁵ S_US−23¹⁸	MS_US−8⁴ MR_US−23¹⁹	S_US−8⁷ MS_US−23¹⁹	S_US−23¹⁹	S_US−8⁶ MS_US−23¹⁹	MS_US−23¹⁹	S_US−23¹⁹
Early Blight	S	MS	MR	MS¹⁸	MS⁴	S²⁰	S	MS¹¹	MR¹⁸	MS¹⁸
PVY-O Mosaic	S	MS¹⁷	MS¹⁷	MS¹⁷	MS¹⁷	MS¹⁷	S	S⁶	R/MR***	MS¹⁷
PVY-N-Wi Mosaic	S	MR¹⁷	MS¹⁷	MS¹⁷	S¹⁷	MS¹⁷	MR	S⁶	R/MR***	R¹⁷
PVY-N-Wi Tuber Necrosis	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	N/A	Yes	No
PVY-NTN Mosaic	S	MS¹⁷	MS¹⁷	MS¹⁷	MS¹⁷	MS¹⁷	MR	S⁶	R/MR***	MS¹⁷
PVY-NTN Tuber Necrosis	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	N/A	No	No
PLRV	S	I¹⁷	S	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	R²	S¹⁶
Verticillium wilt	MR	MS⁹	MS	N/A	N/A	N/A	MR	N/A	N/A	N/A
Soft rot - Dickeya spp.*	MR	MS	MS	N/A	S	MS	MR	N/A	N/A	N/A
Soft rot - Pectobacterium spp.*	MR	S	S	N/A	S	S	MS	N/A	N/A	N/A
Pink rot	MS	MS	MS¹³	N/A	S	MR	MS	N/A	N/A	N/A
Pythium leak	N/A	S¹³	S¹³	N/A	N/A	MR¹³	S¹³	N/A	N/A	N/A
Fusarium dry rot	MR	MS	MS	N/A	MS	MS	MS	N/A	N/A	N/A
Common scab **	MR	S	R	MR¹²	MR⁴	S	R	R⁶	S²	N/A
Powdery scab - Tuber scab	MR	R	R¹	MS⁵	S¹⁵	S	MS	MR⁶	N/A	S¹
Powdery scab - Root gall	N/A	R	MR¹	N/A	S¹	MR	MS	N/A	N/A	MS¹
PMTV tuber necrosis	N/A	I²⁰	I²⁰	I²⁰	I²⁰	MS²⁰	S²⁰	N/A	N/A	MR²⁰
Legend: R: Resistant, MR: Moderately Resistant, MS: Moderately Susceptible, S: Susceptible, I: Immune, N/A: No data available. For University of Maine Potato Breeding Program trials, the resistance levels were determined as in Xue et al. (2019).
* Soft rot susceptibilities of varieties can vary depending on the bacterial species and strain causing the disease.
** Common scab can be caused by multiple species of Streptomyces, and variety resistance profiles may differ according to the common scab species (Clarke et al. 2019).
*** Norwis was previously identified as field resistant (2), however, in our trials we observed leaf mosaic (all three PVY strains) and tuber necrosis (PVY-N-Wi) on Norwis plants.
Numbers next to the resistance ratings indicate the reference number to the relevant study.

The study revealed significant variability in disease resistance among the top 10 Maine potato varieties. For instance, Caribou Russet was susceptible to late blight, early blight, and viral diseases, but has tolerance to common scab, Verticillium wilt, soft rot, Fusarium dry rot, and powdery scab. The results are crucial for potato growers in Maine and elsewhere, as selecting disease-resistant varieties can significantly reduce crop losses and reliance on chemical controls. The study highlights the importance of continuous monitoring and breeding programs aimed at improving disease resistance in potato varieties.

Out of the 185 variety/disease interactions investigated, we could not find disease resistance reports on 44 of the interactions (24%). While these interactions may have been investigated in other non-published data that is not available to us, future work on identifying these resistance levels and sharing with public can help growers make informed decisions on these varieties. Other future research should focus on further understanding the genetic mechanisms behind disease resistance and developing new resistant varieties.

Acknowledgements

USDA-NIFA Special Grant for Potato Breeding Research and Maine Potato Board are acknowledged for providing funding for the University of Maine Potato Breeding Program over the years. PVY field trials were funded by USDA-NIFA-SCRI award #2020-51181-32136 with the help of Dr. Andrei Alyokhin, Aaron Buzza, and University of Maine Potato IPM Program.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Top 10 Potato Varieties in Maine and Their Resistances to Common Diseases

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Version 1

Abstract

Introduction

Materials and Methods

Variety Selection

PVY tuber necrosis assessments

Data Collection

Disease selection

Results and Discussion

Declarations

Acknowledgements

References

Additional Declarations

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