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Revisiting the emerging pathosystem of rice sheath blight: deciphering the Rhizoctonia solani virulence, host range, and rice genotype-based resistance

Summary

Rice plants are affected by a fungal disease called sheath blight caused by a fungus named Rhizoctonia solani. This study found that different strains of this fungus vary in how aggressive they are, with some being much more damaging than others. By testing various rice varieties, researchers identified which ones naturally resist this disease better, and these resistant varieties could be used to breed new rice crops that are less affected by the disease.

Background

Sheath blight, caused by Rhizoctonia solani AG1 IA, is a significant soil-borne fungal disease affecting rice production worldwide. The disease poses management challenges due to limited understanding of pathogen virulence mechanisms and the scarcity of reliable resistance sources in cultivated rice varieties.

Objective

To isolate and characterize R. solani isolates based on virulence and cell wall degrading enzyme production, determine the host range of the pathogen across different plant species, and evaluate rice genotype-based resistance using morphological traits, yield components, and SSR markers.

Results

SHBP9 isolate was identified as the most aggressive, showing highest relative lesion height (63.98%) and overproduction of cell wall degrading enzymes. The isolate successfully infected 12 Poaceae weeds and 25 economic crops, with non-susceptibility limited to chickpea, rocket, and four Solanaceae crops. Rice genotypes clustered into three groups: two resistant (Egyptian Yasmine, Giza 182), four moderately resistant, and five susceptible cultivars, with Indica genotypes showing greater resistance than Japonica types.

Conclusion

The study identified pathogen virulence mechanisms linked to enzyme production and mapped reliable sources of rice genotype-based resistance. These findings provide insights for developing sustainable disease management strategies through resistant variety development using Indica/Indica-Japonica germplasm as genetic resources.
  • Published in:Frontiers in Plant Science,
  • Study Type:Experimental Study,
  • Source: PMID: 39748817, DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1499785
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