Posted on 05/24/2013 9:45:13 AM PDT by blam
Researchers Have Finally Solved The Mystery Of The Irish Potato Famine
Denise Chow, LiveScience
May 24, 2013, 12:03 PM
The Irish potato famine that caused mass starvation and approximately 1 million deaths in the mid-19th century was triggered by a newly identified strain of potato blight that has been christened "HERB-1," according to a new study.
An international team of molecular biologists studied the historical spread of Phytophthora infestans, a funguslike organism that devastated potato crops and led to the famine in Ireland. The precise strain of the pathogen that caused the devastating outbreak, which lasted from 1845 to 1852, had been unknown.
"We have finally discovered the identity of the exact strain that caused all this havoc," study co-author Hernán Burbano, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Germany, said in a statement. [Microscopic Worlds Gallery: Fascinating Fungi]
Previously, a Phytophthora strain called US-1 was thought to have triggered the potato famine, but by sequencing the genomes of preserved samples of the plant pathogen, the researchers discovered that a different strain — one that is new to science — was the real culprit.
"Both strains seem to have separated from each other only years before the first major outbreak in Europe," Burbano said.
DNA detectives
The researchers studied 11 historic samples from potato leaves that were collected about 150 years ago in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Europe and North America.
The scientists found these ancient samples, which were preserved at the Botanical State Collection Munich and the Kew Gardens in London, still had many intact pieces of DNA. In fact, the DNA quality was so good the researchers were able to sequence the entire genome of Phytophthora infestans and its host, the potato, within just a few weeks.
"The degree of DNA
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(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
Ireland is the only modern country that has a lower population today than in 1840. This is due to the the deaths and emigration caused by the Irish Potato Famine.
Sweet potatoes from Peru were already being grown in the Pacific Islands when Europeans first arrived there.
GGG Ping.
Let me guess. Globull warming?
we all know it was George Bush’s fault.
Parents came over here when I was eighteen. Cereal famine. Couldn’t get a bowl anywhere. Bad. ‘Tis a beautiful country though; lush rolling hills, and the peat, ah the peat.
Meanwhile, the British were exporting most of Ireland’s other crops and beef leaving what many considered the surplus Irish population to starve at the time.
Sad history.
Nope,it wasn't "Colonel Potter"...it was "General Steele",a character he played in one episode in Season 3 ("Henry's" last season).
I suppose if I'd done a search I'd have discovered it.(ahem)
bookmark
Cool story - get an extra flower and put it down for all of us freepers with an Irish ancestor... Then bring back a picture or two...
Pretty much all of the American military at that time(1850-1900) was made up of men from the British Isles.
Where’s the fun in that?
I’m trying to think of a PC way to discuss preventing illegal Mexican immigration in light of this discovery.
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Thanks blam, I'm glad you had an eye out for this one.The researchers studied 11 historic samples from potato leaves that were collected about 150 years ago in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Europe and North America. The scientists found these ancient samples, which were preserved at the Botanical State Collection Munich and the Kew Gardens in London, still had many intact pieces of DNA. In fact, the DNA quality was so good the researchers were able to sequence the entire genome of Phytophthora infestans and its host, the potato, within just a few weeks.To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. |
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Wasn’t Herb I the Irish king who offered to do everyone’s taxes at a reasonable rate?
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