An Oregon State University researcher is part of an international team studying a tiny worm that’s causing big trouble in fields of potatoes - the fourth most consumed food staple in the world. Dee Denver, a genomicist in OSU’s College of Agricultural Sciences, is working with scientists from Idaho, New York, Canada, France and Scotland on a five-year, $3.2 million project funded USDA. The researchers are taking aim at potato cyst nematodes. The nematodes attack the roots, reducing yields by up to 80 percent. A key objective of the study is to find less environmentally damaging strategies for controlling the pests. The U.S. crop brings farmers about $4 billion a year. Oregon State says potatoes are grown on every continent and the U.S. ranks fourth in global production, after China, the Russian Federation and India.
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