Investigating the Host Range of the US-22, US-23, and US-24 Clonal Lineages of Phytophthora infestans on Solanaceous Cultivated Plants and Weeds

Abstract

Phytophthora infestans causes late blight, one of the most important diseases of potato and tomato worldwide. Recently in the United States, three newly identified clonal lineages, US-22, US-23, and US-24, have become widespread. While potato and tomato are the most commonly infected solanaceous hosts for P. infestans, new lineages may have a broader or different host range. Under controlled conditions, we determined the host range of isolates representing US-22, US-23, and US-24 genotypes of P. infestans on detached tissues of cultivated solanaceous plants and solanaceous weeds common to the upper midwestern production region. None of the isolates representing the clonal lineages produced late blight symptoms or signs on foliage of selected cultivars of eggplant, pepper, tomatillo, or ground cherry in a detached leaf assay. Symptoms and signs were evident on the potato and tomato cultivars tested, although with the US-24 isolate, infection on tomato was limited. None of the isolates sporulated on the common weed black nightshade, but some sporulation and necrosis was observed with all representatives of the lineages on bittersweet nightshade and petunia. Hairy nightshade supported abundant sporulation and symptoms, and sporangial production was not significantly different than that on tomato for each of the isolates representing the three lineages, indicating the potential for this weed to be a source of inoculum and contribute substantially to late blight epidemics. Interestingly, black nightshade had the highest incidence of sporulation on berries, but the lowest on leaves, suggesting the importance of testing multiple plant organs when determining susceptibility of a species. Our results update knowledge of the host range of the ever-changing P. infestans populations and will help to improve late blight management strategies by targeting these additional hosts.