effects of the pesticide furadan on traits associated with reproduction in wild potato species影响农药furadan造成的特征与野生马铃薯物种繁殖有关.pdfVIP

American Journal of Plant Sciences, 2012, 3, 1608-1612 /10.4236/ajps.2012.311194 Published Online November 2012 (http://www.SciRP.org/journal/ajps) Effects of the Pesticide Furadan on Traits Associated with Reproduction in Wild Potato Species 1 1 2 2 2 2 Alfonso del Rio , John Bamberg , Ruth Centeno-Diaz , Alberto Salas , William Roca , David Tay 1USDA/Agriculture Research Service, US Potato Genebank, Wisconsin, USA; 2International Potato Center (CIP), Lima, Peru. Email: adelrioc@ Received August 5th, 2012; revised September 18th, 2012; accepted October 20th, 2012 ABSTRACT Natural populations of wild potato species are the backups for the diversity held in genebanks for research and breeding. Some potato species are known to grow in close proximity to cultivated fields, thus are potentially impacted by human activity, including exposure to pesticides. The present study tested the effects of a common pesticide on reproductive traits of potatoes known to grow in or near pesticide-treated fields in central Peru. Furadan® 4F, an insecticide— nematicide (common name = carbofuran) was applied at two different rates to populations representing 15 wild potato species in a greenhouse environment in Peru. Flowering duration of these populations was usually significantly reduced in comparison to a water control, and in a few cases, percent viable pollen also was. These findings suggest that ag- richemicals may be having unintentional effects on wild potato populations in ways that could compromise their genetic diversity. Keywords: Potato Species; Pesticide Contamination; Genetic Drift; Reproductive Capacity 1. Introduction There is evidence that agrichemicals can alter plant bio-