Friday, September 18th, 2009

Late Blight Up Close

Tim Stark, tomato farmer and proprietor of Eckerton Hill Farm in Lobachsville, PA, describes his battle with late blight this summer. (Credits: Still photography by Annette Heist. Additional images courtesy of Sophien Kamoun, amandabhslater/flickr, NOAA. Filmed and produced by Flora Lichtman.) See More Videos

The genome of the organism responsible for the dread agricultural disease known as late blight has been sequenced. The organism, a water mold known as Phytophthora infestans, was the cause of the potato famine of the 19th century, and is currently devastating tomato crops in the northeastern US. The genetic code of the organism, which was published earlier this month in the journal Nature, contains much repetitious DNA -- up to 75 percent of the organism's genome consists of repeats. We'll talk with one of the researchers studying the organism.