News on Dickeya / Blackleg from the United States

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Growers of the potato variety Lamoka used for chip processing have seen a higher than normal incidence of blackleg in their fields this summer.