Understanding sheath blight resistance in rice: the road behind and the road ahead

• Published in: Plant biotechnology journal Vol. 18; no. 4; pp. 895 - 915
• Main Authors: Molla, Kutubuddin A., Karmakar, Subhasis, Molla, Johiruddin, Bajaj, Prasad, Varshney, Rajeev K., Datta, Swapan K., Datta, Karabi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.04.2020; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: biotechnology; Blight; Crop diseases; Crop yield; Cultivation; Disease resistance; Disease Resistance - genetics; Flowers & plants; Food security; Fungicides; Gap analysis; genes; genetic resistance; Genetic variability; genetic variation; genetically modified organisms; Genomes; Germplasm; Grain cultivation; Host range; host-pathogen relationships; host–plant interaction; Infections; Kinases; leaf blight; Oryza - genetics; Oryza - microbiology; Pathogenesis; Pathogens; Plant Diseases - genetics; Plant Diseases - microbiology; Proteins; Review; Rhizoctonia - pathogenicity; Rhizoctonia solani; Rice; rice disease resistance; Sheath blight; sheath blight QTL; Sheaths; Thanatephorus cucumeris; transgenic rice; sheath blight; rice disease resistance; Rhizoctonia solani; host-plant interaction; transgenic rice; sheath blight QTL
• ISSN: 1467-7644; 1467-7652; 1467-7652
• DOI: 10.1111/pbi.13312

Summary Rice sheath blight disease, caused by the basidiomycetous necrotroph Rhizoctonia solani, became one of the major threats to the rice cultivation worldwide, especially after the adoption of high‐yielding varieties. The pathogen is challenging to manage because of its extensively broad host range and high genetic variability and also due to the inability to find any satisfactory level of natural resistance from the available rice germplasm. It is high time to find remedies to combat the pathogen for reducing rice yield losses and subsequently to minimize the threat to global food security. The development of genetic resistance is one of the alternative means to avoid the use of hazardous chemical fungicides. This review mainly focuses on the effort of better understanding the host–pathogen relationship, finding the gene loci/markers imparting resistance response and modifying the host genome through transgenic development. The latest development and trend in the R. solani–rice pathosystem research with gap analysis are provided.