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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #147148
Title: THE POTATO STORY

Author
item KANIEWSKI, WOJCIECH - MONSANTO CO, MISSOURI
item Thomas, Peter

Submitted to: Journal of Economic Literature
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/17/2003
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Potato production is highly dependent on the use of insecticides to control virus diseases by controlling the insects that spread the diseases. The insecticides are highly expensive, and there is much concern about human health and environmental impacts of pesticide use. Even with the use of insecticides, potato virus diseases are prevalent. They exclude US potato from foreign markets, reduce yield and quality, and they are present in a high percentage of potatoes and potato products in the market. In this work, an alternative method to control potato virus diseases was developed that provides near perfect control of the virus diseases and markedly reduces and, in many instances, eliminated the need for the pesticides. This method involved the incorporation of specific virus genes into the genetic make-up of leading potato cultivars. The genes caused the potatoes to be practically immune to the viruses. Extensive studies indicated that the new control approach has no damaging impacts on human health, environment, or potato quality.

Technical Abstract: This is a review article dealing with the development of transgenic resistances to potato viruses in potato. Work began with tobacco and then moved to potato after methods to transform potato were developed. Constructs of viral coat protein transgenes conferred extreme resistance against homologus potato viruses X (PVX) and Y (PVY) and a moderate resistance that reduced plant-to-plant spread of potato leafroll virus (PLRV). Constructs of the viral replicase gene of PLRV extreme resistance to infection and within-plant spread of PLRV. In contrast to the behavior of replicase gene resistance against other viruses, that against PLRV was highly effective against all isolates of the virus. Concurrent with the work on resistance to potato viruses, the insect control gene (Bt) from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis was isolated and shown to be highly effective against the Colorado potato beetle (CPB) when transformed into potato. Potato lines that combined transgenic resistance to CPB and PVY (NewLeaf Y) and other lines that combined resistance to CPB and PLRV (New Leaf +) were developed and commercialized in 1998. These lines markedly reduced or eliminated the need for pesticides for virus disease control and were very successful.