News on Dickeya / Blackleg

Researchers of the Pennsylvania State University identified potential threats to the local potato crop by collecting potato stems or tubers that exhibited symptoms of black leg or soft rot from 26 potato fields. They were able to isolate, culture and identify 456 samples of bacteria infecting potatoes.

The growing threat of antimicrobial resistance has led researchers to search for new compounds everywhere. This week in mBio, a multinational team of researchers in Europe report the discovery of a new antifungal antibiotic named solanimycin.

The World Potato Congress is pleased to be beginning its Fall webinar series on November 12, 2020, with Professor Jacquie van der Waals from the University of Pretoria, South Africa.

A key requirement for a longtime potato storage is that the storage conditions match the needs and end use of the crop. These requirements of can be assessed before harvest by doing several test digs which allow to determine the distribution and level of tuber infection.

Scientists have developed a user-friendly online tool called Uniqprimer, which quickly and automatically designs species-specific DNA tags (also known as primers) for detecting pathogens such as Dickeya dianthicola using DNA testing.

Farmers, researchers and members of the public gathered at the University of Maine’s Aroostook Research Farm in Presque Isle last Wednesday to learn about the latest in potato research.

Researchers from all over the world were in Bangor for the '2017 Dickeya and Pectobacterium Summit', organized by the University of Maine Extension.

In Scotland, a group of major potato businesses and public sector organisations have sponsored a £242,000 (USD 313,000) research project aimed at reducing the impact of potato disease blackleg on the Scottish seed potato industry.

Colorado U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and Cory Gardner this week announced that Colorado State University will receive $264,600 in funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to study the spread of pathogens in U.S potato crops.

The potato disease Dickeya can be detected by laboratory testing — but is there enough of it present to justify the higher costs? That is the question facing Canadian Seed Potato Growers exporting to the United States who are increasingly asked for the test.

Years before that french fry landed on your plate, the plant that would eventually give rise to the spud your fry was cut from was sealed away deep in a secure-access building, growing slowly in a test tube inside a locked growth chamber.

With clean seed potatoes recognized as the best defense against this new blackleg-causing pathogen, the demand for Dickeya testing is growing fast.

AHDB Potatoes has pledged to work closely with the seed potato sector and Scottish Government to ensure that the industry maintains a low level of the bacterial disease blackleg.

Dickeya blackleg, often just called Dickeya, is a new disease in the United States. It was severe in 2015 at least partly reflecting hotter weather than previous 2 years when the pathogen likely was present and is developing again in 2016.

Maine potato farmers have wrapped up planting and are hoping for a good year.

Blackleg, caused by strains of soft rot bacteria known as Dickyea, has traditionally had little impact on North American potato production, but it now appears to be on the move throughout Europe and could increasingly threaten growers in the Eastern United States.

Potato tubers are affected by a number of blemishes, which can cause severe economic losses. This 'Focus on Potato' presentation by Jacquie van der Waals, Professor at the University of Pretoria in South Africa can serve as a guide for growers and others in the potato industry to help with identification of these blemishes.

A little-understood bacteria is bringing back the older potato disease Blackleg and is threatening the reputation of Maine seed potatoes