Aims:To investigate the diversity of eco-distinct isolates of Magnaporthe oryzae for their morphological, virulence and molecular diversity and relative distribution of five Avr genes.
Methods and Results:Fifty-two M. oryzae isolates were collected from different rice ecosystems of southern India. A majority of them (n = 28) formed a circular colony on culture media. Based on the disease reaction on susceptible cultivar (cv. HR-12), all 52 isolates were classified in to highly virulent (n = 28), moderately virulent (n = 11) and less-virulent (13) types. Among the 52 isolates, 38 were selected for deducing internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence diversity. For deducing phylogeny, another set of 36 isolates from other parts of the world was included, which yielded two distinct phylogenetic clusters. We identified eight haplotype groups and 91 variable sites within the ITS sequences, and haplotype-group-2 (Hap_2) was predominant (n = 24). The Tajima's and Fu's Fs neutrality tests exhibited many rare alleles. Furthermore, PCR analysis for detecting the presence of five Avr genes in the different M. oryzae isolates using Avr gene-specific primers in PCR revealed that Avr-Piz-t, Avr-Pik, Avr-Pia and Avr-Pita were present in 73.68%, 73.68%, 63.16% and 47.37% of the isolates studied, respectively; whereas, Avr-Pii was identified only in 13.16% of the isolates.Conclusions: Morpho-molecular and virulence studies revealed the significant diversity among eco-distinct isolates. PCR detection of Avr genes among the M. oryzae population revealed the presence of five Avr genes. Among them, Avr-Piz-t, Avr-Pik and Avr-Pia were more predominant.
Significance and Impact of the Study:The study documented the morphological and genetic variability of eco-distinct M. oryzae isolates. This is the first study demonstrating the distribution of the Avr genes among the eco-distinct population of M. oryzae from southern India. The information generated will help plant breeders to select appropriate resistant gene/s combinations to develop blast disease-resistant rice cultivars. 7 MF716846.1 M. oryzae isolate AMA UOC-01 8 KT693184.1 M. oryzae strain UPM-PO Malaysia 9 KM249937.1 M. oryzae strain PO-FA01 10 MW042178.1 P. oryzae strain Pos-3 China 11 MW042177.1 P. oryzae strain Pos-2 12 MT588875.1 P. grisea isolate DW-2016-2 13 MW042176.1 P. oryzae strain Pos-1 14 MG642970.1 M. e grisea 15 MF946553.1 Pyricularia sp. strain F2 United Kingdom 16 MN203028.1 P. oryzae isolate T49 17 FN555121.1 M. oryzae 18 JX469384.1 M. oryzae culture-collection NFCCI:2605 India (NE) 19 MF678836.1 M. oryzae isolate Gudalur India (TN) 20 MF669475.1 M. oryzae isolate Nagaranai 21 MF668695.1 M. oryzae isolate Aduthurai 22 MF668692.1 M. oryzae isolate Maduranthakam 23 KM816799.1 M. oryzae strain w11-65 18S Korea 24 KM816801.1 M. oryzae strain w11-110 25 KM816797.1 M. oryzae strain w11-58 26 KM816796.1 M. oryzae strain w11-23 27 AB269937.1 M. grisea genes Japan 28 MT103091.1 P. oryzae isolate Mf3 Iran 29 MT103090.1 P. oryzae isolate Mb3 30 LC552959.1