Project Number: 1245-21220-251-03
Project Type: Specific Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Jul 06, 2009
End Date: Sep 30, 2013

Objective:
Monitor the location-specific variation in scab resistance of potato breeding material and newly released cultivars by field testing (national trials).

Approach:
A total of 20 newly-released potato cultivars and advanced breeding selections plus four popular cultivars as checks (Atlantic, Ranger Russet, Russet Burbank, and Superior) will be tested in common scab nurseries in four locations, embodying a range of environmental conditions and different pathogen populations. Locations are in Aberdeen, ID, Becker, MN, E. Lansing, MI, and University Park, PA. A randomized complete block with three replications of four hills will be planted for each clone. At harvest, each tuber will be rated for percent surface area covered with lesions and type of lesion. Data from cooperating sites will be analyzed by our investigator. The resulting comparison and ranking of susceptibility to predominant Streptomyces isolates will be made available to growers to help them select the most scab-resistant cultivars for their region.