On Wed, 27 Aug 2003 21:03:23 GMT, "Gordon Couger"
wrote:


"Torsten Brinch" wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 25 Aug 2003 07:31:01 GMT, "Gordon Couger"
wrote:

[quoting:]
Saving the Potato

Agweb.com
August 21, 2003
by Dean Kleckner
..
Without biotechnology, we may not ever breed a potato that isn't
vulnerable to fungal epidemics, triggering the starvation that killed
millions of people in the past.

Bwahahahaha.

POTATO OFFERS RESISTANCE TO LATE BLIGHT DISEASE
Agnet Dec 17, December 17, 1998 USDA - ARS News Service Aberdeen,
Idaho.

A new potato with resistance to the world's worst potato disease is
now available to plant breeders. "This potato is highly resistant to
attack by late blight, the disease that caused the Irish POTATO famine
of the 1840s," said plant pathologist Dennis L. Corsini with the
Agricultural Research Service in Aberdeen, Idaho. He and colleagues at
Aberdeen and at Prosser, Wash., developed the new spud, known as
AWN86514-2. .. The new potato's parents are a french-fry variety -
Ranger Russet, developed by Pavek - and a potato selected from
Poland's POTATO breeding institute. ARS released the new potato in
collaboration with the agricultural experiment stations of Oregon,
Idaho and Washington.

How do you get the resistance into other varieties?

How did you get into AWN86514-2, you think? However, how about
dealing with that stupid op-ed piece you posted first? It bloody
claimed that "without biotechnology, we may not ever breed a potato
that isn't vulnerable [to late blight]"

While conventional breeders have already bred potatoes with high
late blight resistance for years!

Research - ARS - Dennis L. Corsini and Joseph Pavek
USDA University of Idaho, R&E Center Aberdeen, ID 83210

.. We are devoting a great deal of our resources to late blight
resistance and have identified two selections that have high levels of
foliar and tuber blight resistance that will reduce the need for
applying fungicides weekly during the growing season. The first,
AWN86514-2, has been released as late blight resistant germplasm for
breeders. The other, A90586-11, has high yields with tuber type and
quality suited for french-fry processing, and we are continuing seed
multiplication and testing of it. .. We are [also] testing
transgenic Russet Burbank and Ranger Russet developed by public
programs for blackspot and virus resistance, and transgenic Lenape for
reduced glycoalkaloids. We have seen positive results for the
blackspot resistance and reduced glycoalkaloid traits, however plant
and tuber abnormalities are major problems with this material. snip