Blackleg is a disease caused by several species of Pectobacterium that results in losses to potato crops worldwide. Here, we report the draft genomes of three taxonomically and geographically distinct blackleg-causing strains of Pectobacterium: P. carotovorum subsp. brasiliensis ICMP 19477, P. atrosepticum ICMP 1526, and P. carotovorum subsp. carotovorum UGC32. Comparison of these genomes will ...

Europe has been much more cautious about the introduction of genetically modified (GM) crops than many other countries in the world. But this year it has granted permission to grow a genetically modified potato and also to allow into the market three types of GM maize. The potato, called Amflora and developed by the company BASF in Ludwigshafen, Germany, has been the first GM crop to be approve...

The bacterium Ralstonia solanacearum is a widely accepted model organism for the study of pathogenicity in plants [1]. This soil-borne bacterium, which belongs to the betaproteobacteria, is responsible for bacterial wilt on more than 200 plant species from 50 botanical families, including important crops such as potato, tomato, eggplant, pepper, tobacco and banana. In fact, bacterial wilt is co...

Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) is a nutritious food crop and, based on the high starch content of its storage root, a potential bioethanol feedstock. Enhancing the nutritional value and starch quantity of storage roots are important goals of sweet potato breeding programs aimed at developing improved varieties for direct consumption, processing, and industrial uses. However, developing impro...

Although the agricultural sector consumes more than 90% of the extracted water, its efficiency is lower than other sectors. Also, according to the population growth and critical role of food security, and the necessity to supply water to other sectors, an increasing pressure to save water, optimized consumption and increasing water use productivity in agriculture will occur in the future. Nowad...

The source-sink relationship determines crop yield, and it is largely regulated by water and nutrients in agricultural production. This has been widely investigated in cereals, but fewer studies have been conducted in root and tuber crops such as potato (Solanum tuberosum L.). The objective of this study was to investigate the source-sink relationship in potato and the regulation of water and n...

Guidelines to ensure the efficient coexistence of genetically modified (GM) and conventional crops are currently being considered across the European Union. The purpose of this strategy is to describe the measures a farmer must adopt to minimize the admixture of GM and non-GM crops. Minimizing pollen/seed-mediated gene flow between GM and non-GM crops is central to successful coexistence. Howev...

climate change  is one of the most important challenges in recent years. heavy flood, hot weather, early coldness, most of drought replications, risen of sea water level, pests and plant disease ,reducing of ozone layer thickness, global worming ,and melting ices, are cases that introduced climate change issue in recent decades more. climate is one of the most important  factors for crop  chang...