Correspondence of Charles Darwin on James Torbitt's project to breed blight-resistant potatoes

Abstract

The most prolific of Darwin's correspondents from Ireland was James Torbitt, an enterprising grocer and wine merchant of 58 North Street, Belfast. Between February 1876 and March 1882, 141 letters were exchanged on the feasibility and ways of supporting one of Torbitt's commercial projects, the large-scale production and distribution of true potato seeds (Solan um tuberosum) to produce plants resistant to the late blight fungus Phytophthora infestans, the cause of repeated potato crop failures and thus the Irish famines in the nineteenth century. Ninety-three of these letters were exchanged between Torbitt and Darwin, and 48 between Darwin and third parties, seeking or offering help and advice on the project. Torbitt's project required selecting the small proportion of plants in an infested field that survived the infection, and using those as parents to produce seeds. This was a direct application of Darwin's principle of selection. Darwin cautiously lobbied high-ranking civil servants in London to obtain government funding for the project, and also provided his own personal financial support to Torbitt.

The Top 10 oomycete pathogens in molecular plant pathology

“…Breeding for late blight resistance was initiated by James Torbitt of Belfast in the 1870s, inspired by the theories of Charles Darwin, with whom he shared considerable correspondence (DeArce, ). More than 130 years later, breeding efforts have yet to provide a durable solution.…”

Assessment of Performance Ability of Three Diagnostic Methods for Detection of Potato Leafroll Virus (PLRV) Using Different Visualizing Systems

“…Infections arisen from PVY and PLRV entail commonly substantial yield losses, but those caused by single infections of PVX or PVS are rarely significant, particularly regarding the last one [4]. PLRV, one species of the genus Polerovirus, family Luteoviridae (of ssRNA plant viruses), is a phloem-limited Luteovirus that infects potato leading to a significant reduction in potato annual yield as well as tuber quality worldwide [3,5].…”

Assessing the effects of quantitative host resistance on the life-history traits of sporulating parasites with growing lesions

“…Phytophthora infestans, the causal agent of late blight of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.), played a substantial role in the Irish famine in the 1840s, and remains one of the most destructive plant diseases, causing important economic losses of potato crops worldwide each year [26]. The idea of breeding potatoes with resistance to P. infestans emerged after the Irish famine [27,28] and is still central to limit the damage due to late blight [29]. However, the explosive demography of P. infestans, due to the combination of a short generation time and a very high multiplication rate, associated with its ability to alternate between asexual and sexual cycles, still challenge its durable control based on host resistance [30].…”