1 Dept of Plant Breeding and Biometrics, Cornell University, 252 Emerson Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853 USA 2 Advanced Studies in Botany Center, University of Madras, Madras 600025, Tamilnadu, India 3 Dept of Plant Pathology, University of Wisconsin, 1630 Linden Dr, Madison, WI 53706 USA 4 Entomology and Plant Pathology Division, International Rice Research Institute, PO Box 933, 1099 Manila, Philippines 5 Dept of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, G-420 Lilly Hall, West Lafayette, IN 47907 USA
Rice blast is one of the most serious diseases in rice. It is caused by the fungus Magnaporthe grisea (anamorph Pyricularia grisea). The fungus serves as a model organism for fungal genomics and host-pathogen interactions, because it is easy to culture, has a relatively small genome, and is crossable. We are continuing to develop RiceBlastDB, a database for M. grisea that links information about population structure, pathogenicity and virulence, mating types, epidemiological, molecular maps and marker data, and sequence and molecular characterization of avr and host specificity genes as well as the corresponding host plant resistance genes. The database is publicly accessible and may be browsed on the World Wide Web at http://ascus.cit.cornell.edu/blastdb. Recently, we have added a physical map of the fungus based on a BAC contig library and are linking both genetic and physical mapping information with pathogen population data that will facilitate greater understanding of the mechanism and genetics of pathogenesis and host-plant resistance. Part of our effort is also devoted to standardizing and quantifying DNA fingerprints produced by different labs, to be able to more easily compare blast populations from different regions, and correlating these fingerprints to lineage structure and pathotype information. We hope to derive a global picture of the distribution of different lineages and races of M. grisea, in an effort to use this information to improve the strategies for breeding durably resistant rice germplasm.
Plant & Animal Genome VII Conference Plant & Animal Genome VII Conference