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Abstract

Potato feeds about one billion people worldwide but is susceptible to late blight caused by Phytophthora infestans. In its interaction with P. infestans, potato undergoes continuous adaptive evolution to counteract pathogen variability, often driven by mutations that affect pathogen recognition and disease resistance. Li et al. (pp. 2491–2509) identified natural polymorphisms of the canonical nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat gene Rpiblb1/RB in wild potato Solanum bulbocastanum. Examining these polymorphisms allowed them to elucidate the dynamic adaptive evolution of potato in response to P. infestans and reveal how key amino acid variations enhance or abolish resistance. This work provides mechanistic insights into host–pathogen co-evolution and offers a theoretical foundation for breeding potatoes with durable late blight resistance.