The formation of oospores of Phytophthora infestans was studied in tomato and potato crops and volunteer plants under field conditions, and in laboratory tests with leaf discs of potato cultivars differing in their level of racenonspecific resistance. Oospores were readily detected in blight-affected tomato leaflets and fruits, and in leaflets of field crops and volunteer potato plants. Oospores extracted from blighted potato leaflets yielded 13 oospore-derived progeny. Oospores were also produced following inoculation of leaf discs of eight potato cultivars expressing different levels of race-nonspecific resistance with a mixture of sporangia of A1 and A2 isolates. The highest numbers of oospores were produced in cvs Bintje (susceptible) and Pimpernel (resistant), and the lowest in Nicola (intermediate resistance). The relationship between lesions per leaflet and oospore incidence, affected by varying A1 : A2 ratios, was explored using a simple mathematical model, and validated by comparing actual oospore production in leaflets with multiple lesions of the race-nonspecific-resistant potato clone Lan 22-21 with the predictions generated by the model. Survival of oospores was investigated after their incorporation in either a sandy or a light clay soil in buried clay pots exposed to the local weather conditions. Over 6 years these soils were regularly assessed for their infection potential using floating leaflets in a spore-baiting bioassay. Sandy and clay soils contaminated with oospores remained infectious for 48 and 34 months, respectively, when flooded. Infections of floating potato leaflets occurred within 84±92 h and ceased after 11 days. Soil samples remained infective if dried and re-flooded on two, but not more, occasions.

We tested the hypothesis that the population of Phytophthora infestans in the Toluca valley region is genetically differentiated according to habitat. Isolates were sampled in three habitats from (i) wild Solanum spp. (WILD), (ii) land-race varieties in low-input production systems (RURAL), and (iii) modern cultivars in high-input agriculture (VALLEY). Isolates were sampled in 1988-89 (n= 179) and in 1997-98 (n= 389). In both sampling periods, the greatest genetic diversity was observed in RURAL and VALLEY habitats. Based on the Glucose-6-phosphate isomerase and Peptidase allozymes, the subpopulations from the three habitats were significantly differentiated in both sampling periods. In contrast to allozyme data for 1997-98, no differences were found among the three subpopulations for sensitivity to metalaxyl. Two groups of isolates identical for allozyme and mating type were further investigated by restriction fragment length polymorphism fingerprinting; 65% of one group and 85% of another group were demonstrated to be unique. The genetic diversity data and the chronology of disease occurrence during the season are consistent with the hypothesis that populations of P. infestans on wild Solanum populations are derived from populations on cultivated potatoes in the central highlands of Mexico near Toluca.

The population structure of Phytophthora infestans in the Toluca Valley of central Mexico was assessed using 170 isolates collected from cultivated potatoes and the native wild Solanum spp., S. demissum and S. xendinense. All isolates were analyzed for mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplotype and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) multi-locus fingerprint genotype. Isolate samples were monomorphic for mtDNA haplotype because all isolates tested were of the Ia haplotype. A total of 158 multilocus AFLP genotypes were identified among the 170 P. infestans isolates included in this study. P. infestans populations sampled in the Toluca Valley in 1997 were highly variable and almost every single isolate represented a unique genotype based on the analysis of 165 AFLP marker loci. Populations of P. infestans collected from the commercial potato-growing region in the valley, the subsistence potato production area along the slopes of the Nevado de Toluca, and the native Solanum spp. on the forested slopes of the volcano showed a high degree of genetic diversity. The number of polymorphic loci varied from 20.0 to 62.4% for isolates collected from the field station and wild Solanum spp. On average, 81.8% (135) of the AFLP loci were polymorphic. Hetero-zygosity varied between 7.7 and 19.4%. Significant differentiation was found at the population level between strains originating from cultivated potatoes and wild Solanum spp. (P = 0.001 to 0.022). Private alleles were observed in individual isolates collected from all three populations, with numbers of unique dominant alleles varying from 9 to 16 for isolates collected from commercial potato crops and native Solanum spp., respectively. Four AFLP markers were exclusively found present in isolates collected from S. demissum. Indirect estimation of gene flow between populations indicated restricted gene flow between both P. infestans populations from cultivated potatoes and wild Solanum hosts. There was no evidence found for the presence of substructuring at the subpopulation (field) level. We hypothesize that population differentiation and genetic isolation of P. infestans in the Toluca Valley is driven by host-specific factors (i.e., R-genes) widely distributed in wild Solanum spp. and random genetic drift.

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Twenty-two R gene-free cultivars, introduced between 1900 and 1954, were field-tested for their level of partial resistance to a complex race of Phytophthora infestans. Disease assessments, expressed as areas under the disease progress curve, appeared closely correlated to resistance ratings given between 1929 and 1954. This, and the stability in time since 1929 of the ratings in the Dutch Descriptive List of Varieties of Field Crops, suggest that the resistance concerned is durable. Lesion growth rate was found to be a very important component of resistance in these cultivars and also in more recently introduced ones, whereas latent period varied little between the cultivars. The most resistant culfivars were Robijn, Populair, Pimpernel, Libertas and Surprise, which were also among the latest maturing in the material. These five cultivars are closely related and may have the same resistance genes.Abbreviations: ADPC --area under the disease progress curve; LGR = lesion growth rate; LP = latent period.