A University of Florida scrientist has found that some varieties of the impatiens flower resist the deadly downy mildew disease better than others.
Many people love to plant impatiens – also known as the “Touch-Me-Not” — in their gardens, yards and patios because of their bright, colorful flowers and tolerance to shade, said Zhanao Deng. The UF/IFAS ornamental plant breeder leads research to find out how he can bolster the impatiens industry by eliminating the downy mildew pathogen.
“Downy mildew is a highly destructive disease in a wide range of crops worldwide, not just impatiens,” said Deng, a UF/IFAS environmental horticulture professor at the Gulf Coast Research and Education Center. The disease can cause extensive damage to lettuce, basil, melon, squash and grapes, among others.
Several outbreaks of impatiens downy mildew have been reported in Europe, Australia and North America. The disease has translated to decreases in wholesale values of impatiens in the United States from about $150 million in 2005 to $65 million in 2015.
Through extensive testing, Deng and his research team found two New Guinea impatiens varieties that can resist downy mildew throughout the flower’s entire life, even when their tiny plants first emerge from seeds. To allow rapid testing of impatiens varieties and breeding materials, the researchers developed a method to inoculate impatiens, and they found which varieties are more resistant or more susceptible to the pathogen when impatiens plants are at their early growth stage.
They tested 16 garden impatiens and 16 New Guinea impatiens varieties in Florida. Their findings, as just published in the journal Nature Horticulture Research, showed all New Guinea impatiens varieties resisted the pathogen after their first true leaves have emerged.
“However, many of these New Guinea impatiens varieties have an Achilles’ heel: They are susceptible to downy mildew at the stage when the young plants first emerged from seeds,” Deng said. “More importantly, we found two New Guinea impatiens varieties that didn’t have this vulnerability to downy mildew. They had strong resistance even when they first emerged from seeds. These varieties can be very important sources of resistance to downy mildew.”
Findings from the new research are critical as nurseries and plant buyers eye disease-resistant impatiens flowers as the plant makes a comeback.
Read the complete article at http://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/.
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