On Aug. 5, 2024, North Carolina State University researchers revealed that an examination of the genetic material found in historic potato leaves showed more about the tit-for-tat evolutionary changes occurring in both potato plants and the pathogen that caused the 1840s Irish potato famine.

The study indicated that many of the pathogen’s effector genes have remained stable, although different mutations have occurred to increase its infection prowess. The study also showed that the pathogen added a set of chromosomes between 1845 and 1954, the period of time in which the study’s plant samples were collected. The research results were published in Nature Communications.