Magnaporthe oryzae Triticum pathotype (wheat blast).

Author(s):  
Md. Tofazzal Islam

Abstract Wheat blast is a fungal disease of wheat which is caused by a host-specialized ascomycete Magnaporthe oryzae Triticum (MoT) pathotype (Anamorph Pyricularia oryzae Triticum). It was first discovered in Paraná state of Brazil in 1985 and then gradually spread in wheat growing areas in several countries in Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina. It is a fearsome disease of wheat which causes yield loss up to 100%. It is now a threat to wheat production in about 3 million hectares of wheat growing areas in South America. Application of fungicides to control this disease is unreliable and breeding resistant varieties is also not durable. At conducive environmental conditions (18-30°C and > 80% RH) during ear emergence or grain filling, this disease can become an epidemic and devastate wheat crop within a week. In 2016, MoT emerged as an epidemic in eight districts of Bangladesh and has so far destroyed more than 15,000 hectares of wheat. The wheat blast pathogen in Bangladesh is determined as a South American lineage of M. oryzae. Scientists fear that MoT may spread to neighbouring South Asian wheat-growing countries and thus pose a serious threat to food and nutritional security of South America.

mBio ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Gladieux ◽  
Bradford Condon ◽  
Sebastien Ravel ◽  
Darren Soanes ◽  
Joao Leodato Nunes Maciel ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Delineating species and epidemic lineages in fungal plant pathogens is critical to our understanding of disease emergence and the structure of fungal biodiversity and also informs international regulatory decisions. Pyricularia oryzae (syn. Magnaporthe oryzae) is a multihost pathogen that infects multiple grasses and cereals, is responsible for the most damaging rice disease (rice blast), and is of growing concern due to the recent introduction of wheat blast to Bangladesh from South America. However, the genetic structure and evolutionary history of M. oryzae, including the possible existence of cryptic phylogenetic species, remain poorly defined. Here, we use whole-genome sequence information for 76 M. oryzae isolates sampled from 12 grass and cereal genera to infer the population structure of M. oryzae and to reassess the species status of wheat-infecting populations of the fungus. Species recognition based on genealogical concordance, using published data or extracting previously used loci from genome assemblies, failed to confirm a prior assignment of wheat blast isolates to a new species (Pyricularia graminis-tritici). Inference of population subdivisions revealed multiple divergent lineages within M. oryzae, each preferentially associated with one host genus, suggesting incipient speciation following host shift or host range expansion. Analyses of gene flow, taking into account the possibility of incomplete lineage sorting, revealed that genetic exchanges have contributed to the makeup of multiple lineages within M. oryzae. These findings provide greater understanding of the ecoevolutionary factors that underlie the diversification of M. oryzae and highlight the practicality of genomic data for epidemiological surveillance in this important multihost pathogen. IMPORTANCE Infection of novel hosts is a major route for disease emergence by pathogenic microorganisms. Understanding the evolutionary history of multihost pathogens is therefore important to better predict the likely spread and emergence of new diseases. Magnaporthe oryzae is a multihost fungus that causes serious cereal diseases, including the devastating rice blast disease and wheat blast, a cause of growing concern due to its recent spread from South America to Asia. Using whole-genome analysis of 76 fungal strains from different hosts, we have documented the divergence of M. oryzae into numerous lineages, each infecting a limited number of host species. Our analyses provide evidence that interlineage gene flow has contributed to the genetic makeup of multiple M. oryzae lineages within the same species. Plant health surveillance is therefore warranted to safeguard against disease emergence in regions where multiple lineages of the fungus are in contact with one another.


Plant Disease ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 101 (5) ◽  
pp. 684-692 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Farman ◽  
Gary Peterson ◽  
Li Chen ◽  
John Starnes ◽  
Barbara Valent ◽  
...  

Wheat blast is a devastating disease that was first identified in Brazil and has subsequently spread to surrounding countries in South America. In May 2011, disease scouting in a University of Kentucky wheat trial plot in Princeton, KY identified a single plant with disease symptoms that differed from the Fusarium head blight that was present in surrounding wheat. The plant in question bore a single diseased head that was bleached yellow from a point about one-third up the rachis to the tip. A gray mycelial mass was observed at the boundary of the healthy tissue and microscopic examination of this material revealed pyriform spores consistent with a Magnaporthe sp. The pathogen was subsequently identified as Magnaporthe oryzae through amplification and sequencing of molecular markers, and genome sequencing revealed that the U.S. wheat blast isolate was most closely related to an M. oryzae strain isolated from annual ryegrass in 2002 and quite distantly related to M. oryzae strains causing wheat blast in South America. The suspect isolate was pathogenic to wheat, as indicated by growth chamber inoculation tests. We conclude that this first occurrence of wheat blast in the United States was most likely caused by a strain that evolved from an endemic Lolium-infecting pathogen and not by an exotic introduction from South America. Moreover, we show that M. oryzae strains capable of infecting wheat have existed in the United States for at least 16 years. Finally, evidence is presented that the environmental conditions in Princeton during the spring of 2011 were unusually conducive to the early production of blast inoculum.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Gladieux ◽  
Bradford Condon ◽  
Sebastien Ravel ◽  
Darren Soanes ◽  
Joao Leodato Nunes Maciel ◽  
...  

AbstractDelineating species and epidemic lineages in fungal plant pathogens is critical to our understanding of disease emergence and the structure of fungal biodiversity, and also informs international regulatory decisions. Pyricularia oryzae (syn. Magnaporthe oryzae) is a multi-host pathogen that infects multiple grasses and cereals, is responsible for the most damaging rice disease (rice blast), and of growing concern due to the recent introduction of wheat blast to Bangladesh from South America. However, the genetic structure and evolutionary history of M. oryzae, including the possible existence of cryptic phylogenetic species, remain poorly defined. Here, we use whole-genome sequence information for 76 M. oryzae isolates sampled from 12 grass and cereal genera to infer the population structure of M. oryzae, and to reassess the species status of wheat-infecting populations of the fungus. Species recognition based on genealogical concordance, using published data or extracting previously-used loci from genome assemblies, failed to confirm a prior assignment of wheat blast isolates to a new species (Pyricularia graminis tritici). Inference of population subdivisions revealed multiple divergent lineages within M. oryzae, each preferentially associated with one host genus, suggesting incipient speciation following host shift or host range expansion. Analyses of gene flow, taking into account the possibility of incomplete lineage sorting, revealed that genetic exchanges have contributed to the makeup of multiple lineages within M. oryzae. These findings provide greater understanding of the eco-evolutionary factors that underlie the diversification of M. oryzae and highlight the practicality of genomic data for epidemiological surveillance in this important multi-host pathogen.ImportanceInfection of novel hosts is a major route for disease emergence by pathogenic micro-organisms. Understanding the evolutionary history of multi-host pathogens is therefore important to better predict the likely spread and emergence of new diseases. Magnaporthe oryzae is a multi-host fungus that causes serious cereal diseases, including the devastating rice blast disease, and wheat blast, a cause of growing concern due to its recent spread from South America to Asia. Using whole genome analysis of 76 fungal strains from different hosts, we have documented the divergence of M. oryzae into numerous lineages, each infecting a limited number of host species. Our analyses provide evidence that inter-lineage gene flow has contributed to the genetic makeup of multiple M. oryzae lineages within the same species. Plant health surveillance is therefore warranted to safeguard against disease emergence in regions where multiple lineages of the fungus are in contact with one another.


BMC Biology ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Tofazzal Islam ◽  
Daniel Croll ◽  
Pierre Gladieux ◽  
Darren M. Soanes ◽  
Antoine Persoons ◽  
...  

2014 ◽  
Vol 104 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
João L. Nunes Maciel ◽  
Paulo C. Ceresini ◽  
Vanina L. Castroagudin ◽  
Marcelo Zala ◽  
Gerrit H. J. Kema ◽  
...  

Since its first report in Brazil in 1985, wheat blast, caused by Magnaporthe oryzae (anamorph: Pyricularia oryzae), has become increasingly important in South America, where the disease is still spreading. We used 11 microsatellite loci to elucidate the population structure of the wheat blast pathogen in wheat fields in central-western, southeastern, and southern Brazil. No subdivision was found among the wheat-infecting populations, consistent with high levels of gene flow across a large spatial scale. Although the clonal fraction was relatively high and the two mating type idiomorphs (MAT1-1 and MAT1-2) were not at similar frequencies, the clone-corrected populations from Distrito Federal and Goiás, Minas Triangle, and São Paulo were in gametic equilibrium. Based on these findings, we propose that populations of the wheat blast pathogen exhibit a mixed reproductive system in which sexual reproduction is followed by the local dispersal of clones. Seedling virulence assays with local wheat cultivars differentiated 14 pathotypes in the current population. Detached head virulence assays differentiated eight virulence groups on the same wheat cultivars. There was no correlation between seedling and head reactions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (Special) ◽  
pp. 82-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
LV Subba Rao ◽  
RA Fiyaz ◽  
AK Jukanti ◽  
G Padmavathi ◽  
J Badri ◽  
...  

India is the second largest producer of rice in the world and it is the most important staple food grain. All India Coordinated Rice Improvement Project (AICRIP) was initiated with objective of conducting multi-location trials to identify suitable genotypes of high yield potential along with appropriate crop management practices. Since its inception AICRIP contributed significantly in meeting the growing demand both within and outside India. Significant progress has been achieved through AICRIP in terms of varietal release thereby increasing the crop productivity and also meeting the food and nutritional security. This paper makes a sincere effort in bringing out the significant achievements/milestones achieved under the AICRIP program and also gives a few directions for widening the areas under AICRIP.


Quaternary ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 15
Author(s):  
José Luis Prado ◽  
María Teresa Alberdi ◽  
Jonathan Bellinzoni

The Pampean Region contains sedimentary sequences with abundant mammal fossil records, which constitute the chronological outline of the Plio–Pleistocene of South America. These classic localities have been used for more than a century to correlate with other South American regions. Throughout this time, a series of misinterpretations have appeared. To understand the stratigraphic significance of these localities and the geochronological situation of each unit referring to the Pleistocene, a critical historical study of the antecedents was carried out, evaluating the state of each unit. The biostratigraphic studies of the Pampean Region’s mammalian faunas improved the understanding of biogeographic changes taking into account the environmental fluctuations of the Pleistocene.


Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 888
Author(s):  
Cecilia Olguin-Perglione ◽  
María Edith Barrandeguy

Equine influenza virus (EIV) is one of the most important respiratory pathogens of horses as outbreaks of the disease lead to significant economic losses worldwide. In this review, we summarize the information available on equine influenza (EI) in South America. In the region, the major events of EI occurred almost in the same period in the different countries, and the EIV isolated showed high genetic identity at the hemagglutinin gene level. It is highly likely that the continuous movement of horses, some of them subclinically infected, among South American countries, facilitated the spread of the virus. Although EI vaccination is mandatory for mobile or congregates equine populations in the region, EI outbreaks continuously threaten the equine industry. Vaccine breakdown could be related to the fact that many of the commercial vaccines available in the region contain out-of-date EIV strains, and some of them even lack reliable information about immunogenicity and efficacy. This review highlights the importance of disease surveillance and reinforces the need to harmonize quarantine and biosecurity protocols, and encourage vaccine manufacturer companies to carry out quality control procedures and update the EIV strains in their products.


Author(s):  
Kavita Gururani ◽  
Salej Sood ◽  
Anil Kumar ◽  
Dinesh C. Joshi ◽  
Dinesh Pandey ◽  
...  

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