Eva Edin, AgrD, Researcher
I changed from wheat to potato in spring 2009 and am nowadays working on both fungal diseases on potato and nematode. Since 2012 I have a joint project together with Maria Viketoft, Dept. of Ecology, to analyse if there are any correlations between free-living nematodes and the fungus Rhizoctonia solani, which causes stem canker. I have during the years investigated the occurrence of Alternaria solani and Alternaria alternata, the causal agents of early blight and brown spot, respectively. An important part of the project is to analyse the sensitivity towards strobilurins in the two fungal species.
I have realised that potato is a very important and complex crop and that good skills of the growers are needed for a tasteful ware potato. I collect in both organic and conventional field which means that I get to meet several interesting people, extension workers and representatives from the industry included. I teach quiet a lot in the plant pathology courses which keeps me updated and widens my knowledge about the crops and what diseases they may suffer from. I also supervise master students which also contribute to the expansion of my knowledge. Life is a constant learning and the curiosity is the substratum of development.
The current project ”Occurrence of Alternaria spp. on potato and the fungal sensitivity toward strobilurins (fungicides)” is financed by The Swedish Farmers’ Foundation for Agricultural Research and made in cooperation with Björn Andersson during 2009-2012. The aim of the project is to investigate the distribution of Alternaria solani and Alternaria alternata, the causal agent to early blight and brown spot, respectively. The epidemics are often more severe in the southeastern part of Sweden and are often controlled by fungicides based on strobilurins. Outbreaks have been observed despite repeated applications. One aspect is that the fungi have lost their sensitivity toward strobilurins, which is one of the aspects of the study. One possibility is that the fungi have lost their sensitivity toward strobilurins, which is one of the aspects of this project. Species identification in combination with strobilurin sensitivity is analysed using DNA-based molecular diagnostic methods (sequencing of DNA). For future studies it would be desirable to study the genetic structure of the population of A. solani.
In 2012 the project “Correlations between potato stem canker and free-living nematodes” started which is a collaboration with Maria Viketoft, Dept. of Ecology and is financed by The Swedish Farmers’ Foundation for Agricultural Research. Stem canker and other damages caused by the pathogenic fungus Rhizoctonia solani is a major problem for potato cultivation throughout the country, especially as it leads to great economic losses. In collaboration with advisors, farmers and other researchers we developed a hypothesis that there is a connection between the severity of stem canker and free-living nematodes. Investigations of the abundances of free-living nematodes showed a high occurrence of stubby root and root-lesion nematodes in fields with high incidence of stem canker. During the experiments potato are grown under controlled conditions with different treatments of fungus and nematodes. The aim of the project is to be able to identify the interaction and to understand the causality between nematodes and R. solani to gain insight into and analyse the problems of poor emergence. It is very important to have knowledge of what is the cause and what is the consequence in order for development of control strategies.
