Blast disease, caused by the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae (syn. Pyricularia oryzae), is rice's primary yield-limiting fungal disease worldwide. Nearly 30% of the global rice production losses are due to blast disease, significantly impacting global food security. Breeding for resistant cultivars is identified as a critical aspect of blast management. However, rice blast resistances are overcome within three to five years and have led to severe epidemics worldwide in the last decade causing up to 80% of loss during disease outbreaks. The pathogen can also be devastating on other significant crops like wheat, barley, millet and oats.
Widely distributed, the blast disease evolved to infect over 50 species of the Poaceae family and currently occurs in 85 countries. Because of its serious threat, research on rice blast has been conducted for decades, describing it as a model system in plant disease and deciphering its molecular infection mechanisms and its evolution into distinct genetic lineages over time. Recently, new advances in sequencing technology have helped in gaining more knowledge about the biology and genomics of the pathogen, key components for a successful disease management strategy.
In the last decades, research outlining the infection mechanisms of the blast pathogen, its evolution, and the efforts in breeding has been documented. This research has been enabled by advances in sequencing technologies, enhancing our understanding of blast fungus biology and facilitating its management.
As a hemibiotroph, the blast fungus first establishes a biotrophic relationship with host cells and then switches to necrotrophy by actively killing them. The infection process involves the formation of the appressorium and penetration peg, mechanical penetration of the cell surface, and hyphae invasion of neighboring cells. This biotrophic stage of infection, which releases a range of effector proteins into cells, as well as the necrotrophic stage, has been extensively investigated in rice. However, the molecular interactions between the host and pathogen have been under-investigated for other crops, and the infection process in millets, oats, and turfgrass remains unknown.
The blast fungus population is genetically diverse and is divided into different genetic lineages that are host specific, including the Oryza, Setaria, Panicum, Eleusine, Triticum, Avena, and Lolium lineages which are pathogenic to rice, foxtail millet, common millet, finger millet, wheat, oat, and perennial ryegrass, respectively. Phylogenetic analyses have demonstrated gene flows between these divergent grass-specific lineages of M. oryzae, and pathogenicity tests have revealed the potential for cross-infectivity of M. oryzae isolates from one Poaceae species to another. Genomic relatedness plays a crucial role in enhancing our understanding of the host compatibility and expansion of the blast fungus, deciphering the evolution of recently emerging strains on new crops such as oats.
Breeding for host resistance presents a key role in reducing blast disease pressure below acceptable levels in a cost-effective manner. Pesticide resistance and overreliance on chemical control have led researchers to focus more extensively on this alternative practice. In rice, several quantitative trait loci (QTLs) have been identified based on molecular markers, plant material populations, and environmental conditions. It is possible to clone QTL and breed novel resistance genes for rice blasts due to recent advancements in molecular biology and genomics and holds promises of contributing further to the development of blast-resistant varieties in other crops.
In this Research Topic, we prioritize original research papers and critical reviews that provide new insights into all aspects of blast disease in crops. Research papers should address a specific research question, and provide the methods used, the results observed, and a discussion of the results. Review papers should contribute with an exhaustive review of the published literature to date or a narrative summarizing a significant topic.
We aim to gather the latest research on the etiology, epidemiology, pathogenicity, genomics, and management of blast disease in crops.
The research articles should cover a broad range of topics, including but not limited to:
- Infection mechanisms
- Host specificity and adaptation
- Genome variability
- Evolution
- Breeding for blast disease resistance.
We aim to gather the latest research on the etiology, epidemiology, pathogenicity, genomics, and management of blast disease in crops. The research articles should cover a broad range of topics, including infection mechanisms, host specificity and adaptation, genome variability, evolution, and breeding for blast disease resistance.
Comprehensive hypothesis-driven research from North America, Europe and Australia, increasing our knowledge of blast disease and taking advantage of new research technologies would be appreciated for this collection. However, we particularly welcome submissions from various regions around the world and encourage submissions from Asia and South America, that provide current information on the blast disease emergence, its economic and environmental impacts, current management strategies, and future perspectives and viewpoints relevant to blast disease.
Keywords:
magnaporthe oryzae, wheat blast, fungal disease, plant disease management
Important Note:
All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
Blast disease, caused by the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae (syn. Pyricularia oryzae), is rice's primary yield-limiting fungal disease worldwide. Nearly 30% of the global rice production losses are due to blast disease, significantly impacting global food security. Breeding for resistant cultivars is identified as a critical aspect of blast management. However, rice blast resistances are overcome within three to five years and have led to severe epidemics worldwide in the last decade causing up to 80% of loss during disease outbreaks. The pathogen can also be devastating on other significant crops like wheat, barley, millet and oats.
Widely distributed, the blast disease evolved to infect over 50 species of the Poaceae family and currently occurs in 85 countries. Because of its serious threat, research on rice blast has been conducted for decades, describing it as a model system in plant disease and deciphering its molecular infection mechanisms and its evolution into distinct genetic lineages over time. Recently, new advances in sequencing technology have helped in gaining more knowledge about the biology and genomics of the pathogen, key components for a successful disease management strategy.
In the last decades, research outlining the infection mechanisms of the blast pathogen, its evolution, and the efforts in breeding has been documented. This research has been enabled by advances in sequencing technologies, enhancing our understanding of blast fungus biology and facilitating its management.
As a hemibiotroph, the blast fungus first establishes a biotrophic relationship with host cells and then switches to necrotrophy by actively killing them. The infection process involves the formation of the appressorium and penetration peg, mechanical penetration of the cell surface, and hyphae invasion of neighboring cells. This biotrophic stage of infection, which releases a range of effector proteins into cells, as well as the necrotrophic stage, has been extensively investigated in rice. However, the molecular interactions between the host and pathogen have been under-investigated for other crops, and the infection process in millets, oats, and turfgrass remains unknown.
The blast fungus population is genetically diverse and is divided into different genetic lineages that are host specific, including the Oryza, Setaria, Panicum, Eleusine, Triticum, Avena, and Lolium lineages which are pathogenic to rice, foxtail millet, common millet, finger millet, wheat, oat, and perennial ryegrass, respectively. Phylogenetic analyses have demonstrated gene flows between these divergent grass-specific lineages of M. oryzae, and pathogenicity tests have revealed the potential for cross-infectivity of M. oryzae isolates from one Poaceae species to another. Genomic relatedness plays a crucial role in enhancing our understanding of the host compatibility and expansion of the blast fungus, deciphering the evolution of recently emerging strains on new crops such as oats.
Breeding for host resistance presents a key role in reducing blast disease pressure below acceptable levels in a cost-effective manner. Pesticide resistance and overreliance on chemical control have led researchers to focus more extensively on this alternative practice. In rice, several quantitative trait loci (QTLs) have been identified based on molecular markers, plant material populations, and environmental conditions. It is possible to clone QTL and breed novel resistance genes for rice blasts due to recent advancements in molecular biology and genomics and holds promises of contributing further to the development of blast-resistant varieties in other crops.
In this Research Topic, we prioritize original research papers and critical reviews that provide new insights into all aspects of blast disease in crops. Research papers should address a specific research question, and provide the methods used, the results observed, and a discussion of the results. Review papers should contribute with an exhaustive review of the published literature to date or a narrative summarizing a significant topic.
We aim to gather the latest research on the etiology, epidemiology, pathogenicity, genomics, and management of blast disease in crops.
The research articles should cover a broad range of topics, including but not limited to:
- Infection mechanisms
- Host specificity and adaptation
- Genome variability
- Evolution
- Breeding for blast disease resistance.
We aim to gather the latest research on the etiology, epidemiology, pathogenicity, genomics, and management of blast disease in crops. The research articles should cover a broad range of topics, including infection mechanisms, host specificity and adaptation, genome variability, evolution, and breeding for blast disease resistance.
Comprehensive hypothesis-driven research from North America, Europe and Australia, increasing our knowledge of blast disease and taking advantage of new research technologies would be appreciated for this collection. However, we particularly welcome submissions from various regions around the world and encourage submissions from Asia and South America, that provide current information on the blast disease emergence, its economic and environmental impacts, current management strategies, and future perspectives and viewpoints relevant to blast disease.
Keywords:
magnaporthe oryzae, wheat blast, fungal disease, plant disease management
Important Note:
All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.