Evidence for selection pressure from resistant potato genotypes but not from fungicide application within a clonal Phytophthora infestans population

Insight into pathogen population dynamics provides a key input for effective disease management of the potato late blight pathogen Phytophthora infestans. Phytophthora infestans populations vary from genetically complex to more simple with a few clonal lineages. The presence or absence of certain strains of P. infestans may impact the efficacy of fungicides or host resistance. Current evidence indicates that genetically, the Irish populations of P. infestans are relatively simple with a few clonal lineages. In this study, P. infestans populations were genetically characterized based on samples collected at the national centre for potato breeding during the period 2012–16. The dominance of clonal lineages within this P. infestans population was confirmed and the potential selection pressure of fungicide treatment (2013–15) and host resistance (2016) on this clonal P. infestans population was then investigated. It was found that fungicide products did not notably affect the genetic structure of sampled populations relative to samples from untreated control plants. In contrast, samples taken from several resistant potato genotypes were found to be more often of the EU_13_A2 lineage than those taken from control King Edward plants or potato genotypes with low resistance ratings. Resistant potato varieties Sarpo Mira and Bionica, containing characterized R genes, were found to strongly select for EU_13_A2 strains.