Blockchain technology in agri-food value chain management: A synthesis of applications, challenges and future research directions Zhao, G

Bacterial wilt caused by plant pathogenic Ralstonia spp. is one of the most important diseases affecting the production of many important crops worldwide. In China, a large scientific community has been dedicated to studying bacterial wilt and its causative agent, Ralstonia pseudosolanacearum and R. solanacearum. Most of their work was published in Chinese, which has hindered international communication and collaboration in this field. In this review, we summarize the status of knowledge on geographical distribution, diversity, and host range of Ralstonia spp., as well as, the impact of bacterial wilt on important crops and disease control approaches, in China. We present areas of research and publications by Chinese scientists and propose the promotion of collaborative research within China and with the international community.

Comparative genomic analyses have revealed extensive colinearity in gene orders in distantly related taxa in mammals and grasses, which opened new horizons for evolutionary study. The objective of our study was to assess syntenic relationships of quantitative trait loci (QTL) for disease resistance in cereals by using a model system in which rice and barley were used as the hosts and the blast fungus Pyricularia grisea Sacc. as the pathogen. In total, 12 QTL against three isolates were identified in rice; two had effects on all three isolates, and the other 10 had effects on only one or two of the three isolates. Twelve QTL for blast resistance were identified in barley; one had effect on all three isolates, and the other 11 had effects on only one or two of the three isolates. The observed isolate specificity led to a hypothesis about the durability of quantitative resistance commonly observed in many plant host-pathogen systems. Four pairs of the QTL showed corresponding map positions between rice and barley, two of the four QTL pairs had complete conserved isolate specificity, and another two QTL pairs had partial conserved isolate specificity. Such corresponding locations and conserved specificity suggested a common origin and conserved functionality of the genes underlying the QTL for quantitative resistance and may have utility in gene discovery, understanding the function of the genomes, and identifying the evolutionary forces that structured the organization of the grass genomes.

Bacterial blight, caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae, is a serious disease of rice worldwide. A new dominant gene for bacterial blight resistance in rice, Xa25(t), was identified from Minghui 63, a restorer line for a number of rice hybrids that are widely cultivated in China. This gene conferred resistance to Philippine race 9 (PXO339) of X. oryzae pv. oryzae in both seedling and adult stages. It was mapped to the centromeric region of chromosome 12, 2.5 cM from a disease resistance gene-homologous sequence, NBS109, and 7.3 cM from a restriction fragment length polymorphism marker, G1314. The genomic location of this gene is similar to the previously identified blast resistance genes, Pi-ta and Pi-ta2.