Potato tuber origin and microbial composition determines resistance against soft rot Pectobacteriaceae

In a two year field experiments potato tubers from different origins (seed lots) of the cultivar Kondor were inoculated with Dickeya solani and Pectobacterium brasiliense. Subsequently, the tubers were planted in two common locations in sandy and clay soil in 2018 and 2019. The disease incidence of each seed lot was assessed. Six seed lots, three with a high and three with a low disease incidence were selected. DNA was extracted from tubers from these seed lots that had been frozen prior to the experiment (10 tubers each) and 16S rRNA and ITS genes were sequenced. In 2018 soil samples were taken from the fields the tubers planted in 2019 came from and frozen. DNA was also extracted from the soil of origin of the six selected seed lots and 16S rRNA and ITS genes were sequenced.