Persistence of the mitochondrial lineage responsible for the Irish potato famine in extant new world Phytophthora infestans

TY - JOUR

T1 - Persistence of the mitochondrial lineage responsible for the Irish potato famine in extant new world Phytophthora infestans

AU - Martin, Michael D.

AU - Ho, Simon Y. W.

AU - Wales, Nathan

AU - Ristaino, Jean B.

AU - Gilbert, M. Thomas P.

PY - 2014/2/27

Y1 - 2014/2/27

N2 - The plant pathogen Phytophthora infestans emerged in Europe in 1845, triggering the Irish potato famine and massive European potato crop losses that continued until effective fungicides were widely employed in the 20th century. Today the pathogen is ubiquitous, with more aggressive and virulent strains surfacing in recent decades. Recently, complete P. infestans mitogenome sequences from 19th-century herbarium specimens were shown to belong to a unique lineage (HERB-1) predicted to be rare or extinct in modern times. We report 44 additional P. infestans mitogenomes: four from 19th-century Europe, three from 1950s UK, and 37 from modern populations across the New World. We use phylogenetic analyses to identify the HERB-1 lineage in modern populations from both Mexico and South America, and to demonstrate distinct mitochondrial haplotypes were present in 19th-century Europe, with this lineage initially diversifying 75 years before the first reports of potato late blight.

AB - The plant pathogen Phytophthora infestans emerged in Europe in 1845, triggering the Irish potato famine and massive European potato crop losses that continued until effective fungicides were widely employed in the 20th century. Today the pathogen is ubiquitous, with more aggressive and virulent strains surfacing in recent decades. Recently, complete P. infestans mitogenome sequences from 19th-century herbarium specimens were shown to belong to a unique lineage (HERB-1) predicted to be rare or extinct in modern times. We report 44 additional P. infestans mitogenomes: four from 19th-century Europe, three from 1950s UK, and 37 from modern populations across the New World. We use phylogenetic analyses to identify the HERB-1 lineage in modern populations from both Mexico and South America, and to demonstrate distinct mitochondrial haplotypes were present in 19th-century Europe, with this lineage initially diversifying 75 years before the first reports of potato late blight.

KW - ancient DNA

KW - evolutionary biology

KW - mitogenomics

KW - molecular evolution

KW - pathogens

KW - potato

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84901465752&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1093/molbev/msu086

DO - 10.1093/molbev/msu086

M3 - Article

C2 - 24577840

AN - SCOPUS:84901465752

SN - 0737-4038

VL - 31

SP - 1414

EP - 1420

JO - Molecular Biology and Evolution

JF - Molecular Biology and Evolution

IS - 6

ER -