BackgroundIn February 2016, a new fungal disease was spotted in wheat fields across eight districts in Bangladesh. The epidemic spread to an estimated 15,000 hectares, about 16 % of the cultivated wheat area in Bangladesh, with yield losses reaching up to 100 %. Within weeks of the onset of the epidemic, we performed transcriptome sequencing of symptomatic leaf samples collected directly from Bangladeshi fields.ResultsReinoculation of seedlings with strains isolated from infected wheat grains showed wheat blast symptoms on leaves of wheat but not rice. Our phylogenomic and population genomic analyses revealed that the wheat blast outbreak in Bangladesh was most likely caused by a wheat-infecting South American lineage of the blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae.ConclusionOur findings suggest that genomic surveillance can be rapidly applied to monitor plant disease outbreaks and provide valuable information regarding the identity and origin of the infectious agent.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12915-016-0309-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Since its first report in Brazil in 1985, wheat blast, caused by Magnaporthe oryzae (anamorph: Pyricularia oryzae), has become increasingly important in South America, where the disease is still spreading. We used 11 microsatellite loci to elucidate the population structure of the wheat blast pathogen in wheat fields in central-western, southeastern, and southern Brazil. No subdivision was found among the wheat-infecting populations, consistent with high levels of gene flow across a large spatial scale. Although the clonal fraction was relatively high and the two mating type idiomorphs (MAT1-1 and MAT1-2) were not at similar frequencies, the clone-corrected populations from Distrito Federal and Goiás, Minas Triangle, and São Paulo were in gametic equilibrium. Based on these findings, we propose that populations of the wheat blast pathogen exhibit a mixed reproductive system in which sexual reproduction is followed by the local dispersal of clones. Seedling virulence assays with local wheat cultivars differentiated 14 pathotypes in the current population. Detached head virulence assays differentiated eight virulence groups on the same wheat cultivars. There was no correlation between seedling and head reactions.

The devastating wheat blast disease first emerged in Brazil in 1985. The disease was restricted to South America until 2016, when a series of grain imports from Brazil led to a wheat blast outbreak in Bangladesh. Wheat blast is caused by Pyricularia graminis-tritici ( Pygt), a species genetically distinct from the Pyricularia oryzae species that causes rice blast. Pygt has high genetic and phenotypic diversity and a broad host range that enables it to move back and forth between wheat and other grass hosts. Recombination is thought to occur mainly on the other grass hosts, giving rise to the highly diverse Pygt population observed in wheat fields. This review brings together past and current knowledge about the history, etiology, epidemiology, physiology, and genetics of wheat blast and discusses the future need for integrated management strategies. The most urgent current need is to strengthen quarantine and biosafety regulations to avoid additional spread of the pathogen to disease-free countries. International breeding efforts will be needed to develop wheat varieties with more durable resistance.

Wheat blast, caused by Magnaporthe oryzae, is an important disease across central and southern Brazil. Control has relied mainly on strobilurin fungicides (quinone-outside inhibitors [QoIs]). Here, we report the widespread distribution of QoI resistance in M. oryzae populations sampled from wheat fields and poaceous hosts across central and southern Brazil and the evolution of the cytochrome b (cyt b) gene. Sequence analysis of the cyt b gene distinguished nine haplotypes, with four haplotypes carrying the G143A mutation associated with QoI resistance and two haplotypes shared between isolates sampled from wheat and other poaceous hosts. The frequency of the G143A mutation in the wheat-infecting population increased from 36% in 2005 to 90% in 2012. The G143A mutation was found in many different nuclear genetic backgrounds of M. oryzae. Our findings indicate an urgent need to reexamine the use of strobilurins to manage fungal wheat diseases in Brazil.

Background: In February 2016, a new fungal disease was spotted in wheat fields across eight districts in Bangladesh. The epidemic spread to an estimated 15,000 hectares, about 16 % of the cultivated wheat area in Bangladesh, with yield losses reaching up to 100 %. Within weeks of the onset of the epidemic, we performed transcriptome sequencing of symptomatic leaf samples collected directly from Bangladeshi fields. Results: Reinoculation of seedlings with strains isolated from infected wheat grains showed wheat blast symptoms on leaves of wheat but not rice. Our phylogenomic and population genomic analyses revealed that the wheat blast outbreak in Bangladesh was most likely caused by a wheat-infecting South American lineage of the blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae.

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 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.

25The wheat blast disease has been a serious constraint for wheat production in Latin America 26 since the late 1980s. We used a population genomics analysis including 95 genome 27 sequences of the wheat blast pathogen Pyricularia graminis-tritici (Pygt) and other 28Pyricularia species to show that Pygt is a distinct, highly diverse pathogen species with a 29 broad host range. We assayed 11 neutral SSR loci in 526 Pygt isolates sampled from wheat 30 and other grasses distributed across the wheat-growing region of Brazil to estimate gene 31 flow, assess the importance of sexual reproduction, and compare the genetic structures of 32Pygt populations infecting wheat and nearby grasses. Our results suggest a mixed 33 reproductive system that includes sexual recombination as well as high levels of gene flow 34 among regions, including evidence for higher gene flow from grass-infecting populations and 35 into wheat-infecting populations than vice versa. The most common virulence groups were 36 shared between the grass-and wheat-infecting Pygt populations, providing additional 37 evidence for movement of Pygt between wheat fields and nearby grasses. Analyses of 38 fruiting body formation found that proto-perithecia and perithecia developed on senescing 39 stems of wheat and other grass hosts, suggesting that sexual reproduction occurs mainly 40 during the saprotrophic phase of the disease cycle on dead residues. Phalaris canariensis 41 (canarygrass) supported the fullest development of perithecia, suggesting it is a promising 42 candidate for identifying the teleomorph in the field. Based on these findings, we formulated 43 a more detailed disease cycle for wheat blast that includes an important role for grasses 44 growing near wheat fields. Our findings strongly suggest that widely grown pasture grasses 45 function as a major reservoir of wheat blast inoculum and provide a temporal and spatial 46 bridge that connects wheat fields across Brazil. 47. CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license It is made available under a (which was not peer-reviewed) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity.The copyright holder for this preprint . http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/203455 doi: bioRxiv preprint first posted online Oct. 16, 2017; 3 Author summary (200 words) 48 After the first wheat blast epidemic occurred in 1985 in Paraná, Brazil, the disease 49 spread to Bolivia, Argentina, and Paraguay, and was introduced into Bangladesh in 2016 50 followed by India in 2017. Wheat blast is caused by Pyricularia graminis-tritici (Pygt), a 51 highly diverse pathogen species related to the rice blast fungus P. oryzae, but with an 52 independent origin and a broader host range. We conducted a large scale contemporary 53 sampling of Pygt from symptomatic wheat and other grass species across Brazil and analyzed 54 the genetic structure of Pygt populations. Pygt populations on both wheat and other grasses 55 had high genotypic and virulence diversity, a genetic structure consistent with a ...