Race Specificity of Major Rice Blast Resistance Genes to Magnaporthe grisea Isolates Collected from indica Rice in Guangdong, China

Race-specific resistance and field resistance of 30 rice blast resistance monogenic lines derived from different resources were evaluated. The spectra of resistance to 163 Magnaporthe grisea isolates collected from indica rice in Guangdong Province, China ranged from 0.6% to 89.6%. Most of the monogenic lines showed a narrow resistance spectrum and high susceptibility in rice blast area, whereas the lines with Pikh and Pi1(t) had the broad resistance spectra of 89.6% and 82.2% respectively, showing a high and stable blast resistance in fields. According to the cluster analysis of specific resistance to 163 blast isolates tested, the 30 monogenic lines were divided into 15 groups, and based on the principal factor analysis, nine kinds of race-specific resistance were identified. Pik, Piz5, Pi9 and Pish can be used as candidate resistance genes for rice breeding since their specific resistance differed from those of the backbone parents in Guangdong, China. Gene pyramiding of Pikh [or Pi1(t)], Pi9 (or Piz5) and Pish (or Pita2) will be effective to obtain broad-spectrum blast resistance in rice breeding program in Guangdong, China. The strategies for studying and application of rice blast resistance genes were discussed.