RALEIGH, N.C., March 5 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists have determined the fungus-like pathogen that caused the 1840s Irish potato famine originated in the South American Andes.
Professor Jean Beagle Ristaino and colleagues at North Carolina State University compared the sequences of the nuclear and the cellular mitochondria of nearly 100 pathogen samples from South America, Central America, North America and Europe.
The researchers say they created "gene genealogies" that point the finger at an Andean point of origin for the pathogen, which is known as Phytophthora infestans.
The study, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the National Science Foundation and the Fulbright Scholarship program, is detailed online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
