Decoding the Potato’s Defenses: How a Nigerian Scientist at Cornell Uses Advanced Genomics to Fight its Most Devastating Disease

Fadekemi Ajakaiye

As the world mark World Food Day 2025 on October 16, Nigerian scientist Babatunde Abass Kareem is championing the use of genetic resistance to protect staple crops from devastating disease threats. Kareem, a Ph.D. researcher in Plant Pathology at Cornell University, USA, is at the forefront of a genetic battle to shield the potato from its most destructive disease, late blight. His research, which began in Hungary and now continues at the Ivy League institution, holds significant promise for bolstering food security in Nigeria, where potato farming is a key source of livelihood for millions.

“Late blight, caused by the pathogen Phytophthora infestans, is infamous for triggering the 19th-century Irish potato famine and continues to cause an estimated $6.7 billion dollars in global crop losses annually,” Kareem explained. “This figure, which combines control costs and yield losses, underscores the scale of the problem our research seeks to solve.”

Nigeria’s potato sector illustrates the stakes. As the fourth-largest producer in Sub-Saharan Africa, the country cultivates roughly 322,500 hectares and produces about 1.22 million metric tons annually. Yet, average yields hover around 3.8 tons per hectare, among the lowest worldwide, due largely to disease pressure, poor seed quality, and agronomic gaps.

“On the Jos Plateau and other highland zones, this isn’t an academic issue. Disease challenges farmers every season. It forces smallholders to spray fungicides weekly, costing up to 30% of their income, yet the pathogen evolves faster than we can keep up,” Kareem said. “For them, resistance is the difference between profit and loss because late blight isn’t just a crop killer; it’s a thief of livelihoods.”

For Kareem, tackling this threat is personal. “During my sophomore year at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta in Nigeria, a documentary on how plant diseases ravage our farms sparked my interest in plant pathology. This inspired my undergrad thesis on bacterial wilt in tomato, and eventually led to two master’s degrees: one in plant protection from Hungary and another in global plant health from the UK,” he shared. “I realized that to secure our food future, we have to understand and fight these diseases at a molecular level.”

This drive took him to the Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Hungary, where he conducted groundbreaking research on a Hungarian potato variety named ‘White Lady’. His study, published in the proceedings of the Youth Science Forum, utilized a powerful technology called RNA-sequencing to understand precisely how the potato defends itself against late blight infection over time.

“Think of it as listening in on the potato’s emergency response call,” Kareem explained. “We infected the plant and then monitored which of its genes were ‘switched on’ or ‘switched off’ at different time points—18, 24, 48, and 72 hours after infection. This tells us precisely which genes are the first responders in the fight.”

His research successfully identified 41 key genes linked to the potato’s immune response. Many of these were found to be protein kinases and transcription factors, which act as master switches controlling the plant’s defense system. Crucially, the study pinpointed 13 NBS-LRR genes, a well-known class of resistance genes that act like a sophisticated alarm system, detecting the pathogen and triggering a defensive counter-attack.

Now, as a Ph.D. researcher at Cornell, Kareem is taking this work a giant leap forward. He is exploring wild potato relatives, which are untapped reservoirs of genetic diversity, to find novel resistance genes not just for late blight, but also for potato cyst nematodes—microscopic worms that cause immense damage.
“My current work uses genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to scan the entire DNA of these wild potato species to pinpoint the exact locations of resistance genes. Genetic resistance is the most sustainable and farmer-friendly control strategy,” he said. “Our goal is to provide breeders with the tools to develop naturally resistant varieties, reducing the need for chemical pesticides and securing yields for farmers in Nigeria and beyond.”

Kareem’s research trajectory, from his undergrad thesis in Nigeria to his current PhD in the United States, offers a clear example of how global science can be harnessed to serve local farmers. His work is not just an academic exercise; it is a direct response to a national agricultural challenge. By translating complex genomic data into practical breeding tools, he aims to strengthen Nigeria’s food security from the ground up.

Nigeria’s path forward, he added, will require pairing resistance breeding with better seed systems and on-the-ground support. “A resistance gene is only helpful if farmers can access quality seed of that variety. We can bring down losses by delivering clean seed of resistant varieties, strengthening extension, and supporting local testing with real-time diagnostics.”

As the world strive for “Better Foods and a Better Future,” young African scientists like Kareem are demonstrating how bridging global science and local realities can translate genetic gains into real yield improvements and more resilient livelihoods.