Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28558041›Full record

ArticlePloS one2017

Earlier occurrence and increased explanatory power of climate for the first incidence of potato late blight caused by Phytophthora infestans in Fennoscandia.

Veiko Lehsten, Lars Wiik, Asko Hannukkala, Erik Andreasson, Deliang Chen, Tinghai Ou, Erland Liljeroth, Åsa Lankinen, Laura Grenville-Briggs

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
6.1field-weighted citation impact, top 5% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 38 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.

Veiko LehstenDepartment of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0649-0042
Lars WiikDepartment for Research and Development, The Rural Economy and Agricultural Society Scania, Sweden.
Asko HannukkalaManagement and Production of Renewable Resources, Luke, Natural Resources Institute Finland, Jokioinen, Finland.
Erik AndreassonDepartment of Plant Protection Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Alnarp, Sweden.
Deliang ChenRegional Climate Group, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
Tinghai OuRegional Climate Group, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
Erland LiljerothDepartment of Plant Protection Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Alnarp, Sweden.
Åsa LankinenDepartment of Plant Protection Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Alnarp, Sweden.
Laura Grenville-BriggsDepartment of Plant Protection Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Alnarp, Sweden.
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences · SEUniversity of Gothenburg · SELund University · SENatural Resources Institute Finland · FIScania (Sweden) · SE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundLate blight (caused by Phytophthora infestans) is a devastating potato disease that has been found to occur earlier in the season over the last decades in Fennoscandia. Up until now the reasons for this change have not been investigated. Possible explanations for this change are climate alterations, changes in potato production or changes in pathogen biology, such as increased fitness or changes in gene flow within P. infestans populations. The first incidence of late blight is of high economic importance since fungicidal applications should be typically applied two weeks before the first signs of late blight and are repeated on average once a week.

methodsWe use field observations of first incidence of late blight in experimental potato fields from five sites in Sweden and Finland covering a total of 30 years and investigate whether the earlier incidence of late blight can be related to the climate.

resultsWe linked the field data to meteorological data and found that the previous assumption, used in common late blight models, that the disease only develops at relative humidity levels above 90% had to be rejected. Rather than the typically assumed threshold relationship between late blight disease development and relative humidity we found a linear relationship. Our model furthermore showed two distinct responses of late blight to climate. At the beginning of the observation time (in Sweden until the early 90s and in Finland until the 2000s) the link between climate and first incidence was very weak. However, for the remainder of the time period the link was highly significant, indicating a change in the biological properties of the pathogen which could for example be a change in the dominating reproduction mode or a physiological change in the response of the pathogen to climate.

conclusionsThe study shows that models used in decision support systems need to be checked and re-parametrized regularly to be able to capture changes in pathogen biology. While this study was performed with data from Fennoscandia this new pathogen biology and late blight might spread to (or already be present at) other parts of the world as well. The strong link between climate and first incidence together with the presented model offers a tool to assess late blight incidence in future climates.

Indexed as

ClimateModels, TheoreticalPhytophthora infestansPlant DiseasesSolanum tuberosum

Identifiers

PMID28558041
PMCPMC5448744
OpenAlexW2617859425

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.