late blight

late blight, disease of potato and tomato plants that is caused by the water mold Phytophthora infestans. The disease occurs in humid regions with temperatures ranging between 4 and 29 °C (40 and 80 °F). Hot dry weather checks its spread. Potato or tomato plants that are infected may rot within two weeks. The Great Famine in Ireland in the mid-19th century was caused by late blight of the potato plant. Late blight destroyed more than half of the tomato crop in the eastern United States in 1946, leading to the establishment of a blight-forecasting service in 1947. A number of such forecasting services are maintained at universities and governmental organizations across the world.

When plants have become infected, lesions (round or irregularly shaped areas that range in colour from dark green to purplish black and resemble frost injury) appear on the leaves, petioles, and stems. A whitish growth of spore-producing structures may appear at the margin of the lesions on the underleaf surfaces. Potato tubers develop rot up to 15 mm (0.6 inch) deep. Secondary fungi and bacteria (particularly Erwinia species) often invade potato tubers and produce rotting that results in great losses during storage, transit, and marketing.

Phytophthora survives in stored tubers, dump piles, field plants, and greenhouse tomatoes. Both sexual oospores and asexual sporangia are dispersed by the wind to nearby plants, in which infection may occur within a few hours. At temperatures below 15 °C (59 °F) sporangia germinate by producing zoospores (asexual spores with flagella) that encyst and later form a germ tube under certain temperature and humidity conditions. Above that temperature most sporangia produce a germ tube directly. Foliage blighting and a new crop of sporangia are produced within four to six days after infection. The cycle is repeated as long as cool moist weather prevails.

The disease can be managed with a timely application of fungicide, though epidemics can occur rapidly once crops are infected. Given that the oospores have thickened walls and are able to persist in the soil for several seasons, the disease can be difficult to eradicate. Resistant tomato and potato varieties have been developed.