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Diseases
PIC: A double whammy for tuber marketability
Potato mop-top virus and powdery scab can be a tough twosome.
June 16, 2022 By Carolyn King, courtesy of Potatoes in Canada
The potato mop-top virus can cause tuber necrosis symptoms, which are known as spraing disease. Photo courtesy of Xianzhou Nie. Potato mop-top virus (PMTV) is a tough-to-control, soil-borne pathogen. The only known way this virus can infect a potato plant is by being carried into the plant by the also challenging soil-borne pathogen that causes powdery scab.
Xianzhou Nie’s current research includes projects to learn more about PMTV in Canada, to develop a better way to detect both pathogens, and to find options to help manage the two diseases.
“Mop-top disease seems to be an increasing issue in the United States and in certain Canadian provinces. In the States, some people think mop-top could be the next production issue for the future because the disease can really affect tuber quality,” says Nie, a research scientist in molecular virology with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) in Fredericton. |READ MORE
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