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388 Biotech Potatoes and Food Security, Dr. David Douches===Kevin Folta: [00:00:00] Hi everybody, and welcome to this week's Talking Biotech podcast by Colabra. Now in industrialized countries, we think of the potato as a versatile calorie source. It's a relatively consistent product that we can bake. Mash fry a lot of different applications as an accompaniment to a meal. Now there's a lot of good reasons for that.They grow well, they ship well, they store well, and are generally very inexpensive and easy to. , but in many parts of the developing world, the potato is not a kettle fried luxury. It's the foundation of the diet owing again to its diversity intolerance, to a wide variety of production conditions. So no matter where you grow potatoes, there are some common challenges.Sure, they require lots of water and nitrogen and all that kind of stuff, but perhaps the biggest problem is susceptibility to. The famous Irish potato [00:01:00] famine was caused by a pathogen, a fungal blight that still plagues potato farmers to this day worldwide. Now you can control it with fungicide sprays.That is if you have access to fungicide sprays, and even if you do, it costs time, money, labor fuel, and has potential environmental impacts. , but what if there was a genetic source of resistance? There's certainly wild potato relatives. They do just fine without a lot of help from farmers or fungicides.And could those genes that provide resistance in wild potatoes be identified and then strategically integrated into worldwide potato varieties? Today's. Says yes, and there's evidence that it works in slowing potato late blight. Today's guest is Dr. David Douches. He's a professor in the Department of Plant Soil and [00:02:00] Microbial Science at Michigan State University.Welcome to the podcast David Douches: Dave. . Thanks. It's nice to hear from you again. Kevin Folta: Yeah, nice to have you back on too. It's it, it was fun last time and it was very informative. I don't remember the number off the top of my head, but it was a, it's in the series. If anyone wants to look back, probably about six years ago.But let's talk about potatoes and talk about the new innovations in potato. And when we think about world food staples, I think most people don't think potato. We think about rice or wheat, those kinds of things. But what is the role of the potato in international food security? . David Douches: Well so for people that really, that don't realize is that potato is our number three human food crop.It's so, it is a staple. And, and if you really look at at the world, potatoes are grown in just about every country. Some countries it's more important than others, but it is grown around the world because of its adaptability and it's also, it's it's nutritional. . [00:03:00] Kevin Folta: So if we go around the world, what regions or which areas are most dependent on potato as a staple?David Douches: Well the, the European countries are considered potato, a staple in the U and North American and South American countries. But surprisingly, it's becoming more important in our Asian countries and our African countries. And so that, that's the target of our our work around the world. Kevin Folta: And with all the diversity in potato, and I've seen those slides from what comes out of the Andes, you know, that kind of thing.In, in the places where it is a cornerstone of the diet, is it really just a few different cultivars or are there a lot of land races that are consumed? Or is it a pretty diverse mix overall or is it really everybody eating the Burbank. David Douches: Well the Burbank rust is really a North American potato.It's not really taken around the world. I don't think it has the adaptability, but there are a number of varieties that are, [00:04:00] have worldwide adapt. Adaptation and are grown in a number of countries. But if you start really digging into it, you'll see that there are a few hundred varieties that are grown around the world to feed Kevin Folta: people.And are those mostly choices based upon, you know, what has been there before? What's socially, or I should say culturally relevant or are these things that they just happen to grow well there because they deal with the pests and pathogens and soils of that region? David Douches: Well it's a combination of a lot of things.The, the Different countries have different ways of or favorites in terms of potato skin color or shape or even flesh color. So you you have to kind of take that into account. But then there also is the, the diseases and pests and the, and the climate that they face that, that play into it also.Kevin Folta: Yeah. So what are the biggest threats to potato production in the areas where they're grown? David Douches: [00:05:00] Well late potato, late blight, which is the disease that caused the Irish potato famine, is the disease that's worldwide. It seems like if you grow potatoes, there's a good chance that late blight could be lurking in the shadows.Kevin Folta: Yeah. And so late blight is a fungal pathogen, or is that a bacterial or something like that? David Douches: No, it, it's a fungal pathogen. We, we won't get into the nuances of the pathology, but we'll call it a fungus . Kevin Folta: Well, I'm curious about the nuances of the pathology. Is it, it means it's like an o my seed or something?Yes, it's David Douches: an o my seed. So they call that a A what? A water al. . Kevin Folta: Yeah. So it's kind of that weird borderline between what you might consider a micro it, it doesn't have some of the behaviors and morphologies we typically think about with a fungus. Right. So it's just kind of a, a single cells free swimming thing, like right.It, it's important to clarify that for the audience. So that's, it's really what it is, right? David Douches: Yeah. And that it but it behaves like a fungus. If you [00:06:00] see it visually, it's gonna form. , you know, a fluffy white surface on the, on the leaf of the plant. And, and that's what most people associate with a lot of fungi.Okay, Kevin Folta: so this is a really big deal. This was the Irish potato famine. It was o other huge losses internationally. So what is, how fast does it spread and what happens when late blight is detected in a given region of potato product? David Douches: The fungus needs to survive on a potato, a living, living part of the crop.So because the tubers can stay in the soil, the, the, the disease can linger in, in the off season be if there's, you know, live potatoes in the ground somewhere, or a pile of potatoes on the, somewhere in the corner of a field or something that. You know, left over as kind of trash. So so it always is there.So if you have the right environment, it's gonna come a, it's gonna spread into your crop. Kevin Folta: Yeah. And this seems to be rather devastating, right? When it [00:07:00] comes, it, it completely decimate the plant and moves quickly across a field. David Douches: If your, if your conditions are good, like cool wet conditions, , it can kind of come in there and in a couple weeks, pretty much knock the crop out.Kevin Folta: Yeah. So how, how do farmers currently control this, both in the industrialized world and in the developing David Douches: world? So in, in the US and in Europe, the farmers will plan to spray their crop with fungicide protectant fungicides. So they need to get the fungicide on. The disease comes, it's very difficult to control it when the disease I is has taken hold.So you're then just fighting an uphill battle. So you, you have to have those protected fungicides to stay ahead of the disease. Kevin Folta: Yeah. So what happens if you don't have protected fungicides? If you're in the developing world and maybe are dependent upon or maybe don't have access to such products or maybe, you know, old school [00:08:00] products, what do you David Douches: do?Well It's, it's a complex situation because the, the farmers are dependent on y you know, the, the local community, you know, in businesses to supply them with fungicides. And so there's a lot of misinformation on which fungicides will work effectively. So they could be applying the wrong fungicide.Or like you said, sometimes they don't have access to the fungicides because of the. and so they don't spray and just kind of hope for the best, but the. The one aspect that really disturbs me that I see in our target countries where we're working is that a lot of the potato production is done manually.And so what happens is, you know, they're, they're planting manually. They're, they're healing manually. They're weeding manually, but they're also spraying, you know, walking through the field with, you know, A hand sprayer spraying their fields, and that would be completely unacceptable from our health, health [00:09:00] perspective in the us we, we exposing yourself to your, the, the fungicides and even the insecticides are spraying on a regular basis is not a healthy work environment.Kevin Folta: Yeah. So if you had a. Hypothetically, that could protect itself. , it didn't need sprays. That might be a good thing, right? ? Oh, totally. Yeah. . So we'll pick up with that on the other side of the break. We're speaking with Dr. David Douches. He's a professor at Michigan State University and we're talking about a U S A I D funded project that helps spread biotech potatoes that can protect themselves.From this devastating fungus, this is The Talking Biotech Podcast by Collabora, and we'll be back in just a moment. And now we're back on the Talking Biotech podcast. We're speaking with Dr. David Douches. He's a professor in plant soil and microbial science department at Michigan State University, and we're talking about potatoes and the world food staple [00:10:00] that is constantly under threat of a devastating fungus and a potential new solution that could be beneficial worldwide.Could you tell me a little bit about the project that was funded by U S A I D and some of the collaborators, David Douches: right? Yes. So U S A I D has developed a cooperative agreement with Michigan State University. So we're the lead institution, but part of our team is the International Potato Center, which is actually housed, essentially located in Peru, but we are working with.A substation in Nairobi, Kenya. And then other important teams members are University of Minnesota and University of Idaho. Kevin Folta: Yeah, really good. And, and the International Potato Center, have you ever been there? I'm sure you have. I mean, I always wanted to visit that place that's near Lima. David Douches: Yes, yes.Yeah, it's a great place to visit. They, they it's a great international center and they have a, a, a [00:11:00] world collection of cultivated potatoes down there, which is kind of fun to see. They grow 'em out each year in the mountains. Yeah, that's well that's Kevin Folta: the center of potato diversity, isn't it? Yeah. So you're actually the potato center is at the place where, where it all started and really where folks helped to where people started to domesticate potato for human consumption. So let's talk about the biotech trait. So this is a potato that is resistant to late blight. And so when exactly was this David Douches: developed?There's been an a, a large amount of work done over the past 20 years to. Help us understand more about late bate resistance and potato, and actually identify genes that that confer late bate resistance. And so that's done by different research groups around the world. And so we really have a, a great amount of information.And so now we know there's a number of what we call resistance genes or R genes that contribute to late blight resistance. and with all the work [00:12:00] that's gone on, we know that a single R gene confer can confer resistance, but the pathogens are formidable, fo and can adapt to that single R gene and overcome the resistance over a, a few cycles of, of Of growing in the field.So it's better if we can actually stack multiple R genes and keep the, the pathogen off balance. And so the current research shows that if we have at least three R genes, we can really keep the pathogen at bay. Kevin Folta: Yeah, that makes sense. So the chances of evolving resistance to one in this constant arms race is, is there, I mean, it's, it's, but you know, maybe 99.99, nine 9%.But when you're a rapidly evolving fungus, it's possible to work around a plant defense. But to do that with three genes is infinitesimally unlikely. So, so this is really good, but where do these genes that confer resistance come from? [00:13:00] Well, David Douches: Being a potato breeder at Michigan State, I've had the, the luck of working with a crop that has a, a rich pool of wild species.And these wild species are the sources of these resistance genes. And so a, a number of those species contribute and and so we can actually, in some cases, cross those in and get the resistant genes in, but it takes many cycles of selection to, to get a single gene in. But, And then some of 'em are difficult to cross in so that, that becomes a problem.So they've been cl cloned out by different research groups, and so they're available to actually stack using biotechnology. Kevin Folta: Yeah. Maybe you could give me a little taste of how challenging it is to be a potato breeder. So you have a couple of problems. It's polypoid, right? It's a, it's a tetraploid and then it's got.The wild species aren't always flowering at the same time, and then they don't necessarily have very good [00:14:00] tuber traits. So, so you're trying to get all of the good traits in one place, but how hard is that to do, especially if you're trying to stack genes? David Douches: Well so there was a resistance gene identified in a wild species called Solana B and the.The group took the, that plant and they had to create a protoplasts fusion with a cultivated potato. Then they had to back cross it a couple times to kind of get it looking like a potato. And then as breeders, we've been trying for 20 years to select potatoes that have that resistance gene and have good commercial traits that consumers want.And we still haven't gotten. Yeah, Kevin Folta: that's and so just to clarify for the folks who are listening who may not know Protoplasts Fusion, this is where you actually dissolve away the cell wall of, of cells in culture. And then you use a couple techniques to force together the. Two naked cells that don't have cell walls just by the membranes [00:15:00] and the nuclei combine.And so you get these polypoid that are really synthetic laboratory polypoid that now contain the traits of both. And then you have to kind of peel that onion back to repeal that potato back to something that is reproductive compatible with commercial potato and hopefully be able to get. David Douches: Tuber traits.And, and so that's really difficult. You, you can develop resistant potatoes you know, for the industry, but if they don't have the market traits that the farmers can ha need to sell their varieties it, it doesn't have any value. And so there's one example over in Europe where they, they bred in.Two R genes for late blight resistance and it took them 46 years. . Kevin Folta: Yeah, exactly. It's a lot like the story with the with the apple bringing in fire blight resistance or sc apple scab resistance. Yeah. It just took a long time. So technically speaking, are these potatoes, transgenic, cisgenic, or inogenic?So, David Douches: I would [00:16:00] say that these potatoes are cisgenic because we're taking the native genes from these wild potato species and just putting them in our gene construct and inserting them into the potato. So there's no foreign D n a. Being used. Kevin Folta: Yeah. So this is almost like if you could breed in just that one gene without its genetic neighborhood, which could contain deleterious traits, being able to surgically move the one gene that confers the resistance.Right, right. Okay. So when we put these things in the field, what happens to the, to the plants? I mean, are they really resistant? David Douches: Oh, it's, it's it's black and white. It's. So we, we've run field trials here in Michigan and we've actually run field trials in our target countries. We haven't even talked about our target countries yet.But when you grow them in the field and you have border rows that are susceptible, you have. You can have complete kill of your border [00:17:00] rose that are susceptible and our potatoes then stay there, healthy green and fight off the fungus like it's not even present. Well, Kevin Folta: let's talk about those target countries.So where are these innovations really destined to perform best? David Douches: So our target countries are Bangladesh, Indonesia in Southeast Asia, and then Kenya and Nigeria in. Kevin Folta: and those are countries that, you know, just, just to my ignorance, don't necessarily seem to be centers of potato consumption, but it . So are these, are these new introductions or are you intro actually engineering their traditional lines that maybe are cultivated on some scale?Well, David Douches: It's in interesting in that when I tell talk to people about Bangladesh. Bangladesh is the seventh largest potato producing country in the world. Huh, . And, and they need to feed 106 over 160 million people on their land. And so [00:18:00] potato is their winter crop that they grow as part of their crop rotation and.That gives them a, a, a food staple. And Nigeria is actually a large potato producing country in, in Africa and, and Kenya I, I've been told, has 800,000 potato farmers. . Kevin Folta: Wow. 800,000 potato farmers. That's it. , we're all, David Douches: we're all small, small farmers growing, you know, an an acre of potatoes, . Kevin Folta: Well, so something like this kind of innovation is the difference between a successful season and, and a complete bust.David Douches: Yeah. Yeah. I think that can happen. So, We're, we're really feeling that in Nigeria and Kenya, that there's a strong interest because they, they consistently have leap bate each year. Same, same in Indonesia. It's just that potato is of the four countries. That ones where potatoes just a smaller part of their diet.Kevin Folta: And so, you know, maybe another question about the pathogen. So is this thing just [00:19:00] ubiquitous and maybe have some other host, but really does key in on potatoes when they show up? David Douches: Oh yeah. So I'm trying trying to think about other hosts, but as I said, it kind of, you know, lives on, on potato Potato tissue.So as long as you have potato, you know, potatoes around, and so in the tropical environments, they just don't have the winter kill to take things out. So the, the, the pathogen survives. And so in Indonesia, when the potatoes emerge from the field, in that tropical environment, the late blight is already tacking the plant.Whereas in the US if we're growing potatoes, it's like mid-season. That will start worrying about whether the pathogen can make it there. Kevin Folta: I see. So in these different countries, when you talk about Indonesia versus Nigeria, these are really different culturally. Really different places culturally.Right. And are they in the same potato or are they in a local variety of potato that has always been acceptable to the culinary [00:20:00] interests of the people that are David Douches: there? So the potatoes that we've inserted are our jeans into are what we would call farmer preferred varieties. So those are varieties that.The peop that the farmers want to grow and the people want to eat. And so there are different varieties for different countries. Yeah. Kevin Folta: That's really interesting. And then once they're in there, can they then be just crossed into other lines by traditional breeding? Correct. David Douches: Yeah. That that's possible.But it if you really study potatoes and, and their. and, and changes in varieties. It's, it's a slow process because the, that they really get how would you say it adapted to growing a certain variety. You, you have to learn how to grow a variety and the consumers like, like the certain tastes and culinary qualities of a variety.So you're, you're fighting. Change, you know, you know, or, or the lack of change. The, the, the consumers want a certain potato that looks a certain way, tastes a certain way, cooks [00:21:00] away, and the farmers want something that they know how to grow productively. So it change can be hard. And so by inserting genes into their preferred varie, Is a good strategy in my opinion.Kevin Folta: Yeah. Really good. And I, I guess the other question always that comes up is how is this regulated or tested before it is distributed to farmers in the developing David Douches: world? Well so the, our target countries are somewhat defined by countries that are Accepting of biotech crops. And so the country has a regulatory framework in place for us to present our data to show that the potato is, you know, safe to eat and safe to grow in the environment.And, and so those are the countries we, we try to. Kevin Folta: I see. So a lot of countries, and maybe this isn't well known, is a lot of countries in the developing world don't even have a regulatory framework to begin the regulation [00:22:00] or deregulation of a given biotech innovation in their country. And so that's like, so Kenya is a great example of one that does their neighbor to the South Uganda.Right. And so it makes it almost impossible to be able to deliver new solutions for those populations. David Douches: Yeah. And so we're hoping that Uganda. And Rwanda will also come on board because being border countries and they also are potato countries that we could consider potatoes for them Kevin Folta: also.So you've mentioned this three gene construct that gives three different R genes with a very small likelihood of there being resistance. But is there another set of solutions in the pipe? David Douches: Well we, we have to stay ahead of the, the pathogen. And so what we, we, we've done for the, our next generation of transformations is constructed a new gene construct that has different set of our genes.[00:23:00] Plus we've also added an R gene for virus resistance on top of that to make them even more sustain. . Kevin Folta: Ah, that's really clever. And, and are any other traits that have been used in biotech potatoes, maybe making their way into your versions as well, like the aspar Synthes suppression or maybe jeans that help the potato store David Douches: better?Well not for our s a project. We've been doing work at MSU on that, but, . Our next step is if everything goes right, is is to add in genes for bacterial wilt resistance in the tropical countries. The bacterial wilt is a, is really a large problem. And so if we can stack the leap blight resistance, the virus resistance and bacterial wilt, I think the farmers would be really happy.It would, it would. I. Give them that food security that's needed in these developing countries. Oh, very Kevin Folta: nice. [00:24:00] And then with the wilt resistance, is that just the gene from Pepper that fights againsts? David Douches: There is a set of genes. It's for us to get a more durable bacterial wilt. We're testing a combination of genes and And then hopefully in another year we'll have a better sense if, if that's working to the level that we want.Very cool. Kevin Folta: So if, if listeners wanted to learn more about the project on social media or on the web, where would they look? David Douches: Well, you can follow our project on Twitter. You and it's biotech at ft. Potato P J t try to remember that. Or you can go to a Facebook and feed the Future, a global biotech potato partnership.And we also have a website at Michigan State University, which is C a n R, which is our college.ms. U Ed. Slash biotech pp. Kevin Folta: Very good. [00:25:00] Well, this is super exciting. I, I love this project. I am so glad you took the time to talk to us. So, Dr. David Douches could you keep me posted about future developments and please join me again when there's results from this thing in the field that are really showing how well it's working.David Douches: Oh yeah. And yeah, we're really happy because we have the successful tests in all four of our target countries ongoing right now. So this is quite exciting time for, for our team, but my personally, for myself of being able to help our countries around. Kevin Folta: Very good. And so thank you for listening to another episode of Talking Biotech podcast by Collabora.Please write reviews on iTunes and share with friends, especially the stories of how biotech traits are helping to make more sustainable agriculture. Worldwide, especially those that can protect and assist the food insecure, and especially farmers in the developing world that are oftentimes working without the same tools that they have in the West.[00:26:00] So thank you very much for listening, and we'll talk to you again next week.