Metabolomic Insights into the Susceptibility of Potato (Solanum tuberosum) to Early Blight

Early blight, caused by necrotrophic fungi of the Alternaria species, is a significant threat to potato yield globally. In Sweden, Alternaria solani has been identified as the predominant pathogen driving necrotrophic foliage disease in potatoes. While potato-A. solani interactions have been studied through biochemical and transcriptomic analyses, the metabolic underpinnings of this interaction remain largely unexplored. To date, no comprehensive metabolomics-based approaches have been employed to elucidate the intrinsic chemical diversity and dynamic metabolic pathway modulations occurring during infection in both the pathogen and the host. This study aims to address critical gaps by leveraging targeted and global metabolomics to investigate the biochemical changes in A. solani and its interaction with susceptible and comparatively tolerant potato cultivars over a time course of infection. By comparing metabolic profiles between these cultivars, we seek to unravel key metabolites and pathways that drive disease progression and tolerance mechanisms. We hypothesize that identifying the metabolic alterations during infection and comparing these between potato cultivars will uncover essential biomarker metabolites and pathways crucial for early blight susceptibility or tolerance. The findings from this research will not only advance our understanding of the potato-A. solani interaction also paves the way for developing metabolite-based biomarkers and potential targets for innovative breeding strategies. Moreover, these insights could serve as a foundation for implementing targeted genomic modifications through novel genome editing techniques to enhance field-level tolerance to early blight.