Genomic surveillance uncovers a pandemic clonal lineage of the wheat blast fungus

Abstract

Wheat, one of the most important food crops, is threatened by a blast disease pandemic. Here, we show that a clonal lineage of the wheat blast fungus recently spread to Asia and Africa following two independent introductions from South America. Through a combination of genome analyses and laboratory experiments, we show that the decade-old blast pandemic lineage can be controlled by the Rmg8 disease resistance gene and is sensitive to strobilurin fungicides. However, we also highlight the potential of the pandemic clone to evolve fungicide-insensitive variants and sexually recombine with African lineages. This underscores the urgent need for genomic surveillance to track and mitigate the spread of wheat blast outside of South America and to guide preemptive wheat breeding for blast resistance.

Effector‐triggered susceptibility by the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae

“…In this review, we have focused on new research findings that have begun to reveal the mechanism of effector uptake and the likely in planta functions of the diverse effector repertoire of M. oryzae. Rice blast disease is a constant threat to rice production world-wide, but when combined with the threat to wheat caused by emergence and intercontinental spread of wheat blast disease (Latorre et al, 2023), the need for understanding effector biology and developing durably blast-resistant varieties is urgent (Oliveira-Garcia & Valent, 2015).…”

“…In this review, we have focused on new research findings that have begun to reveal the mechanism of effector uptake and the likely in planta functions of the diverse effector repertoire of M. oryzae . Rice blast disease is a constant threat to rice production world‐wide, but when combined with the threat to wheat caused by emergence and intercontinental spread of wheat blast disease (Latorre et al ., 2023), the need for understanding effector biology and developing durably blast‐resistant varieties is urgent (Oliveira‐Garcia & Valent, 2015). Although large repertoires of putative effectors have been identified in M. oryzae (Mosquera et al ., 2009; Yan et al ., 2023), there are only limited examples of effector‐host target interactions having been defined at the molecular level, most of which we have described here.…”

Rapid mini‐chromosome divergence among fungal isolates causing wheat blast outbreaks in Bangladesh and Zambia

“…The SNPs were located on all chromosomes, providing evidence that the introduction of wheat blast into Zambia occurred from South America rather than from Bangladesh. This finding is consistent with the conclusions from a recent independent analysis (Latorre et al ., 2023). The hypothesis of independent wheat blast introductions to the two continents from South America was further supported by presence/absence polymorphisms on chromosomes 3 and 4.…”

Suppressive Effects of Volatile Compounds from <em>Bacillus </em>spp. on <em>Magnaporthe oryzae Triticum</em> (MoT) Pathotype, Causal Agent of Wheat Blast

“…wheat blast in Bangladesh and Zambia in recent years confirmed its expansive potential [9,10]. Recently, it has also been recognized as a potential future threat to European wheat production [11].…”