Assessment of mating types and resistance to metalaxyl of Canadian populations ofPhytophthora infestans in 1997

The distribution of A1 and A2 mating types, and of metalaxyl-sensitive (MS), metalaxyl-intermediate (MI), and metalaxyl-resistant (MR) strains ofPhytophthora infestans, the causal pathogen of late blight, were determined in Canada in 1997. Potato plants or tubers and tomato plants or fruits, suspected to have late blight infection, were received from seven Canadian provinces in 1997, and were assessed for the presence ofP. infestans. Among 220 samples suspected to have late blight,P. infestans was recovered from 132 samples (60%) received from British Columbia (BC), Manitoba, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Quebec. From the 132 samples, 364 isolates were obtained and tested for their mating type and response to metalaxyl. Populations ofP. infestans within Canadian provinces were homogeneous for mating types, except within BC, where populations comprised both A1 and A2 mating types both within fields and sometimes within samples. The A2 mating type was found in all provinces where late blight was present. The A1 mating type was found only in Manitoba (1 isolate) and in BC (38 isolates). Unlike the old A1 isolates, those found in BC in 1997 were highly resistant to metalaxyl. These A1 isolates are even more resistant than A2 isolates. Based on assays with 10 ug.ml−1 of metalaxyl, 14% of all tested isolates were MS, 69.8% were MI and 16.2% were MR. In addition, all provinces contained MS, MI, and MR isolates. No specific mating type or metalaxyl sensitivity level were specific to tomato or potato.