Wheat blast: from its origins in South America to its emergence as a global threat

Abstract

Wheat blast was first reported in Brazil in 1985. It spread rapidly across the wheat cropping areas of Brazil to become the most important biotic constraint on wheat production in the region. The alarming appearance of wheat blast in Bangladesh in 2016 greatly increased the urgency to understand this disease, including its causes and consequences. Here, we summarize the current state of knowledge of wheat blast and aim to identify the most important gaps in our understanding of the disease. We also propose a research agenda that aims to improve the management of wheat blast and limit its threat to global wheat production.

Pyricularia graminis‐tritici is not the correct species name for the wheat blast fungus: response to Ceresini et al. (MPP 20:2)

“…We also delineate the errors that led Ceresini et al. () to their false conclusions. The same discussion applies to a second recently published review on the same topic (Ceresini et al.…”

“…, ). On the other hand, maximum likelihood trees based on SNP datasets showed P. grisea nestling comfortably within the P. oryzae trees (Castroagudin et al ., ; Ceresini et al., ). In reality, when using total, unfiltered SNP data, P. grisea is highly diverged relative to P. oryzae , as illustrated by phylogenomic studies based on a less‐biased, conserved orthologue dataset (see fig.…”

“…In a review article published in this issue of Molecular Plant Pathology , Ceresini et al. () wrongly treat the wheat blast fungus as a new species, Pyricularia graminis‐tritici ( Pygt ), following the proposal of Castroagudin et al. ().…”

“…Clearly, under this scenario, the statement in Ceresini et al. () that, ‘ Pygt is not a wheat‐specialized pathogen’ is logically correct, because Pygt includes strains adapted to Lolium or Eleusine species as their primary hosts. However, the data of Gladieux et al.…”

“…2 of Ceresini et al. () is based on 28 427 genome‐wide SNPs. However, this analysis and those reported previously (Castroagudin et al ., , Ceresini et al.…”