Pyricularia oryzae is a species complex that causes blast disease on more than 50 species of poaceous plants. Pyricularia oryzae has a worldwide distribution as a rice pathogen and in the last 30 years emerged as an important wheat pathogen in southern Brazil. We conducted phylogenetic analyses using 10 housekeeping loci for 128 isolates of P. oryzae sampled from sympatric populations of wheat, rice, and grasses growing in or near wheat fields. Phylogenetic analyses grouped the isolates into three major clades. Clade 1 comprised isolates associated only with rice and corresponds to the previously described rice blast pathogen P. oryzae pathotype Oryza (PoO). Clade 2 comprised isolates associated almost exclusively with wheat and corresponds to the previously described wheat blast pathogen P. oryzae pathotype Triticum (PoT). Clade 3 contained isolates obtained from wheat as well as other Poaceae hosts. We found that Clade 3 is distinct from P. oryzae and represents a new species, Pyricularia graminis-tritici (Pgt). No morphological differences were observed among these species, but a distinctive pathogenicity spectrum was observed. Pgt and PoT were pathogenic and highly aggressive on Triticum aestivum (wheat), Hordeum vulgare (barley), Urochloa brizantha (signal grass), and Avena sativa (oats). PoO was highly virulent on the original rice host (Oryza sativa), and also on wheat, barley, and oats, but not on signal grass. We conclude that blast disease on wheat and its associated Poaceae hosts in Brazil is caused by multiple Pyricularia species. Pyricularia graminis-tritici was recently found causing wheat blast in Bangladesh. This indicates that P. graminis-tritici represents a serious threat to wheat cultivation globally.

No abstract

Pyricularia oryzae is a species complex that causes blast disease on more than 50 species of poaceous plants. Pyricularia oryzae has a worldwide distribution as a rice (Oryza) pathogen and in the last 30 years emerged as an important wheat (Triticum) pathogen in southern Brazil. We conducted phylogenetic analyses using 10 housekeeping loci for 128 isolates of P. oryzae sampled from sympatric populations of grasses growing in or near wheat fields. Phylogenetic analyses grouped the isolates into three major clades. Clade 1 comprised isolates associated only with rice and corresponds to the previously described rice blast pathogen P. oryzae pathotype Oryza (PoO). Clade 2 comprised isolates associated almost exclusively with wheat and corresponds to the previously described wheat blast pathogen P. oryzae pathotype Triticum (PoT). Clade 3 contained isolates obtained from wheat as well as other Poaceae hosts. We found that Clade 3 is distinct from P. oryzae and represents a new species, Pyricularia graminis-tritici, (Pgt). No morphological differences were observed among these species, but a distinctive pathogenicity spectrum was observed. Pgt and PoT were pathogenic and highly aggressive on Triticum aestivum (wheat), Hordeum vulgare (barley), Urochloa brizantha (signal grass) and Avena sativa (oats). PoO was highly virulent on the original rice host (Oryza sativa), and also on wheat, barley, and oats, but not on signal grass. We conclude that blast disease on wheat and its associated Poaceae hosts in Brazil is caused by multiple Pyricularia species. Pyricularia graminis-tritici was recently found causing wheat blast in Bangladesh. This indicates that P. graminis-tritici represents a serious threat to wheat cultivation globally.

Few twinning events have been recorded in the West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus, Sirenia: Trichechidae) and no previous published study has provided confirmation of this phenomenon based in molecular tools. Here we investigate a possible case of twinning in an endangered Brazilian population of T. manatus using molecular tools. We analyzed two male neonates found stranded in Ceará State, on the northeastern coast of Brazil. The DNA of both individuals was isolated, and 10 microsatellite loci were amplified and genotyped. Following the identification of the alleles, the probabilities of identity by descent (∆7 and ∆8) and relatedness (rxy) were calculated using estimators that evaluate inbreeding. The two individuals shared most of the alleles, with differences in the genotypes being identified in only two loci. All the estimators identified a level of relatedness compatible with that found between siblings (selfed or outbred), indicating they were dizygotic twins. This is the first confirmed case of fraternal twins in free-ranging West Indian manatees in South America. The recognition of this type of twinning provides elements to improve actions for the rehabilitation of stranded animals and their subsequent release to the environment.