The research of two Bowling Green State University biologists into Phytophthora infestans, the dangerous
water mold that was responsible for the Irish potato famine, is in the Sept. 9 issue of Nature. The
publication is one of the foremost international science journals.
Drs. Vipaporn Phuntumart and Paul Morris, an assistant and associate professor, respectively, of
biological sciences, were members of a group of 96 scientists who applied their expertise to the
analysis of the genome sequence of the pathogen. Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology’s Broad Institute coordinated the project.
The work is especially timely because the mold is considered a re-emerging disease and has recently
attacked tomato crops at home gardens and farms in New York and Virginia as well as Ohio. In addition,
increasing knowledge of how the plant pathogen works could also help scientists better understand how
other organisms break down a body’s resistance to both disease and treatment.
Phytophthora infestans causes destructive leaf blight also known as "late blight" in potato and
tomato in the U.S. and worldwide. It is now classified in a "supergroup" of protozoan and
multicellular organisms that include both photosynthetic algae and the malarial pathogen. It infects and
harms plants under cool, moist conditions. In the 1840s, the epidemics due to P. infestans known as the
Irish potato famine led to starvation, death and mass migration of millions of people from Ireland.
Phuntumart and Morris’s interests focus on the evolution of membrane transporters. Comparisons across
different Phytophthora genomes enable them to identify transporters that have diverged due to selective
pressure from their plant hosts. In addition to providing insights into the evolutionary history of the
pathogen, this approach will enable scientists to better understand the pathogenic strategies of this
group of organisms. This information can then be used to develop better management strategies to
minimize crop losses.
Phuntumart and Morris have also brought their gene-decoding skills to another member of the Phytophthora
family, P. sojae, which causes soybean root rot-of great concern in northwest Ohio especially. Other
members of the plant pathogen family attack various vegetables and even oak trees.