Episode 11.1: Protecting Idaho potatoes from fungi with new tools

Meet Marty Ytreberg, a professor in the physics department at University of Idaho and the director of the Institute for Modeling, Collaboration and Innovation. Alongside a large team of interdisciplinary scientists, Ytreberg is designing new fungicides to protect Idaho potatoes and, eventually, other crops. He delves into the steps his team uses to find a fungus’s weak spot and what makes a successful fungicide.

Email us at vandaltheory@uidaho.edu.

For the gardeners out there, how do you deter pests?

Ytreberg discusses an interdisciplinary effort to develop next-generation fungicides for crops starting with Idaho’s iconic potatoes.

Ytreberg explains how a team of physicists, chemists, engineers, plant pathologists and computational modelers joined forces with a shared goal: to design new compounds to combat fungal diseases in plants. While their original focus was human therapeutics, the group quickly realized their methods could make a powerful impact in agriculture, where farmers face growing challenges from fungal pathogens and increasing resistance to current options.

The conversation explores how fungicides work, why resistance develops and what it means to create an entirely new class of fungicides. Ytreberg describes how his team uses molecular modeling alongside laboratory testing and greenhouse trials to identify compounds that effectively target fungal pathogens while remaining safe for plants, people and the environment. Listeners also learn why bringing a new agricultural product to market can take more than a decade and millions of dollars.

Beyond potatoes, the team’s approach holds promise for other crops such as onions, which face significant fungal pathogen challenges, as well as for tackling bacterial, viral and nematode threats. The episode highlights the power of collaborative research and student involvement, with dozens of faculty members, graduate students, postdocs and undergraduates contributing to the project.

This episode offers an inside look at how innovative science at University of Idaho is helping build sustainable solutions for agriculture while training the next generation of researchers.

Music

“Young Republicans” by Steve Combs via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“Cousins at Play” by Sam Cardon via Amphibious Zoo.

Chapters

(0:00) How do you deter garden pests?
(2:56) Getting to know Marty Ytreberg
(3:47) How did you start developing fungicides?
(6:39) How do fungicides attack?
(9:48) Steps to making a fungicide
(13:48) Challenges of developing a fungicide
(19:54) Can this go beyond fungi and potatoes?
(23:18) Final thoughts