Two different gene loci co-evolved with of and confer distinct resistance specificities in potato.

Late blight, caused by the oomycete pathogen is the most devastating disease in potato. For sustainable management of this economically important disease, resistance breeding relies on the availability of resistance () genes. Such genes against have evolved in wild tuber-bearing species from North, Central and South America, upon co-evolution with cognate avirulence () genes. Here, we report how effectoromics screens with of revealed defense responses in diverse species that are native to Mexico and Peru. We found that the response to AVR2 in the Mexican species is mediated by genes of the family that resides on a major late blight locus on chromosome IV. In contrast, the response to AVR2 in Peruvian species is mediated by which resides on chromosome IX and does not belong to the family. The data indicate that AVR2 recognition has evolved independently on two genetic loci in Mexican and Peruvian species, respectively. Detached leaf tests on potato cultivar 'Désirée' transformed with genes from either the or the locus revealed an overlapping, but distinct resistance profile to a panel of 18 diverse isolates. The achieved insights in the molecular gene interaction can lead to more educated exploitation of genes and maximize the potential of generating more broad-spectrum, and potentially more durable control of the late blight disease in potato.