Location: Temperate Tree Fruit and Vegetable Research
Project Number: 2092-21220-003-039-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Sep 1, 2025
End Date: Aug 31, 2026
Objective:
Research Objectives:
Establish a field with Potato mop-top virus-infected Spongospora subterranea for future screening of breeding material under field conditions and for conducting small plot research to improve understanding of the pathogen complex.
Approach:
Efforts to generate a Spongospora/Potato mop-top virus disease field have occurred over the past few years at the Washington State University IAREC research station in Prosser, WA, through collaboration of USDA and Washington State University researchers. It is currently not known if these efforts have been successful. However, to continue efforts to establish this disease field, the WSU field will be planted each year with either healthy potato seed of a Spongospora subterranea/Potato mop-top virus susceptible cultivar (to monitor infection) or will be transplanted with tomato plants inoculated with the pathogen in the USDA-ARS greenhouse. This strategy of planting healthy potato seed to observe soilborne disease pressure, as well as planting infected tomato if higher inoculum is needed in the field will help increase the likelihood of successfully establishing a disease field for screening breeding clones for resistance to both pathogen and for conducting small plot research to improve our overall understanding of this economically devastating disease complex.