Rethinking the Irish potato famine
Thursday, 7 June 2001
DNA fingerprinting of 150-year-old potato leaves has shed new light on the cause of one of the most significant events in modern history, the great Irish potato famine.
The famous famine of the 1840s killed more than a million people and forced another two million to immigrate to the United States and other countries. The catastrophic crop failure has been widely blamed on an infection with the potato fungus Phytopthera infestans.
But a new study by scientists at North Carolina State University has shown the particular variety of the fungus widely blamed for the event was not the guilty party.
DNA analysis of historic specimens stored at England's Kew Royal Botanic Gardens and elsewhere showed no trace of the strain known as 1b haplotype. Instead, the research points the finger at one of three other strains.
This is significant not just for historical reasons, but because modern forms of the pathogen are the most serious potato pests in the world. Potatoes are one of the world's four leading food crops and in developing countries, fungal control measures may be too costly.
Knowing which is the true ancestral strain should help scientists identify where in the world the disease originated. The current evidence suggests South America, not Mexico as previously thought. This in turn should help in the search for naturally-resistant crop varieties that could be used to breed new potato plants for widespread use.
"The geographic center of origin. is where you 're most likely to find plants that have developed natural resistance, " said Dr Jean Beagle Ristaino, whose report is published in the journal Nature.
Knowing how the pathogen spread and how it has mutated over the years would also be useful because it could help scientists develop better control measures to prevent future epidemics.
The study is the first to analyse DNA from historic specimens. Previous studies had analysed material collected from modern-day outbreaks.
Cathy Johnson - ABC Science Online
As we learned in "la clase de espanol" in "la escuela", the words were: "papas" in Latinoamerica, and "patatas" in Espana.
I thought this was that stupid beer dog.
I must say, Freepers seem to love their tubers. This is the third post I've seen on this story.
"The introduction of the potato to Europe caused a population explosion."
The introduction of refried beans to Europe also caused an explosion, but of a different kind.
[I struggled against the urge to post that, lost]
You may have been last to the party, but your topic has at least two cool sidebars. Chive got to ping it later, after I get home.
Everyone knows Taters originated in the Shire.
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