The objective of this work was to evaluate the resistance of 30 Chilean potato landraces to natural infection by Phytophthora infestans during two growing seasons in Southern Chile. Control cultivars were 'Désirée', which has moderate susceptibility to late blight, and 'Karú', which is characterized by moderate resistance to the disease. The response of the potato landraces to late blight infection was assessed weekly by scoring the percentage of foliage destruction during the growing season. Subsequently, the relative area under the disease progress curve (AUDPCr) was calculated. A wide response variation was observed among the landraces during the occurrence of late blight. The comparative analysis of the AUDPCr showed that three landraces achieved high resistance to the disease (low AUDPCr values). These were UCT-34Cor (0.05), UCT-26Ach (0.06) and UCT-27Mu (0.10). Most of the potato landraces were classified into the range moderately resistant to moderately susceptible. The estimated values of heritabilities of the means were moderate to high for the joint analysis of the two years tested (0.65). The wide range of AUDPCr observed within potato landraces suggests the presence of partial resistance in response to the complex virulence pattern of the P. infestans populations present in Southern Chile.

The genus Nothofagus is the main component of southern South American temperate forests. The 40 Nothofagus species, evergreen and deciduous, and some natural hybrids are spread among Central and Southern Chile, Argentina, New Zealand, Australia, New Guinea and New Caledonia. Nothofagus nervosa, Nothofagus obliqua and Nothofagus dombeyi are potentially very important timber producers due to their high wood quality and relative fast growth; however, indiscriminate logging has degraded vast areas the Chilean forest causing a serious state of deterioration of their genetic resource. The South of Chile has a large area covered by secondary forests of Nothofagus dombeyi. These forests have a high diversity of species, large amount of biomass and high silvicultural potential. This work shows a case of hybrid identification in Nothofagus subgenus in different secondary forests of Chile, using high resolution melting. Unknown samples of Nothofagus subgenus are genetically distinguishable with the ITS region of Nothofagus antarctica, Nothofagus nitida and N. obliqua species. It was not possible to distinguish between unknown samples of Andean versus coastal origin. Melting curves with ITS approach of unknown material are genetically similar, positioned between N. dombeyi and N. antarctica and distant from N. nitida. The unknown samples are genetically very close to Nothofagus dombeyi. This suggests the presence of hybrid individuality between species (N. dombeyi × N. antarctica) with the possibility of introgression towards the gene pool of N. antarctica, producing the deciduous foliage that is both present. The trnL locus has no distinction between the N. dombeyi and N. antarctica species, since a similar melting curve is present and equal Tm (80.00 °C). The trnL locus cannot be genetically distinguished from one unknown sample of Nothofagus to another, as highlighted in this study.

En Andisoles del sur de Chile, el rendimiento de los cultivos está principalmente limitado por fijación de fósforo (P) y fitotoxicidad por aluminio (Al³⁺), existiendo escasos antecedentes sobre rotaciones con trigo que incluyan cultivos andinos. Resulta relevante el conocimiento de la arquitectura radical en estos cultivos con el fin de mejorar su productividad, al otorgar una mayor capacidad de absorción de agua, nutrientes y tolerancia a estreses bióticos y abióticos. El objetivo del trabajo fue evaluar la arquitectura radical en estadios tempranos de desarrollo de cultivos andinos establecidos en un Andisol del sur de Chile en condiciones de campo. Durante la temporada 2019/2020 se estableció un ensayo en campo utilizando cuatro cultivos: alforfón (Fagopyrum escu-lentum L.), amaranto (Amaranthus spp.), lupino (Lupinus albus L.) y quínoa (Chenopodium quinoa L.), todos no micorrizables, y como comparación se usó avena (Avena sativa L.), un cultivo micorrizable. En el periodo de crecimiento se realizaron cuatro muestreos de plantas y suelo registrando estadios fenológicos y evaluando arquitectura de raíces, pH del suelo y P disponible. En la primera mitad del ciclo vegetativo, el crecimiento de los cultivos fue continuo y se redujo drásticamente al final del ciclo de desarrollo, por la sequía imperante durante los meses de verano. Estas condiciones climáticas afectaron a quínoa y lupino, los cuales mostraron alta sensibilidad al estrés hídrico. En general, en todos los cultivos se observó una buena arquitectura radical, lo que sugiere una movilización de P en forma más eficiente. Mayor longitud radical se obtuvo en el alforfón, mientras que mejor capacidad de adaptación al medio se observó en quínoa. Se concluye que, mediante un adecuado manejo agronómico al incorporar quínoa o amaranto como precultivos en rotación con trigo, se podría incrementar la disponibilidad de P para el cultivo siguiente reduciendo la aplicación de fertilizantes químicos.