News Agriculture

Potato famine pathogen packs unusual, sneaky genome

Quick-changing zones may be key to the microbe’s vexing adaptability

By Susan Milius

- More than 2 years ago

No cheese, but there’s extra stuffing in a potato pathogen’s genome.

RESISTANCE FIGHTER A potato plant faces a tough adversary in an adaptable microbe that causes late blight. The pathogen adapts quickly to overwhelm pesticides or bred-in plant resistance, and now the newly sequenced genome of the pathogen helps explain the swift adaptability.