We may always confront famine as a cultural and political artifact but we must soon conquer the fungus which caused the Famine before we loose the Potato. Try spending a day without the potato to learn what this might be like!
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Experiments
using Potatoes |
Potato Crops Worldwide
are threatened by the same
fungus which caused the
Irish Potato Famine
The
On-Line Late Blight Workshop
Great Papers!
The International Potato Center on Late Blight
A Page of
Late Blight Resources
(March-April 1998)
Plant Virus Taxonomy database - The descriptions are derived from the VIDE (Virus Identification Data Exchange) database, using the DELTA system, including data on host range; transmission and control; geographical distribution; physical, chemical and genomic properties; taxonomy and relationships; and selected literature references. Included are the database accession numbers (up to Gb[89] and Em[44]) of the genomic sequences of viruses and of satellite RNAs, with links to the NCBI taxonomy database to facilitate searches for these and for more current accessions. There are generic-level summaries of data for viruses that are definitive or tentative members of genera or 'groups'. There are also tables (with appropriate links) listing over 1500 host plant species, and their reported (experimental) susceptibilities to these viruses.
The genetics of Phytophthora infestans - a June 1996 posting from ProMED (the international epidemic alert list)
US Dept of Agriculture's "Biotechnology Permits; the Importance of the Potato"
"Purdue researchers genetically engineer blight resistant potato."
Science Update page -- A nice narrative of the history of the Famine, with explanations of some of the potato diseases which caused it.
News Reports on P. infestans. Potato Blight is still a problem today!
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The Science of Potatoes
- Potato Peels Contain Chemical Residues -- from Cornell Chronicle
- Potato Modeling Listserver
All about the potato and potato crop computer modeling.
Send your request: sub pot-mod-l and your name (first and last)
to listserv@unl.edu
For example, your email should look like the following (with your name):
[to:] listserv@unl.edu
[body:] sub pot-mod-l Patrick O'Reilly
To contribute submissions, send them to: pot-mod-l@unl.edu
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Experiments to Do
Learning to Classify Things by taxonomically sorting potato chips
Potato battery
Stick finger-length pieces of copper and zinc wire one at a time into a raw potato. If you hold an earphone on the wires, you will hear a distinct crackling.The noise is caused by an electric current. The potato and wires produce an electric current in the same way as a torch battery, but only a very weak one. The sap of the potato reacts with the metals in a chemical process and also produces electrical energy. We speak of a galvanic cell because the Italian doctor Galvani first observed this process in a similar experiment in 1789.
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