Comparative analysis of pathogenicity and phylogenetic relationship in Magnaporthe grisea species complex

PLoS One. 2013;8(2):e57196. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0057196. Epub 2013 Feb 26.

Abstract

Outbreaks of rice blast have been a threat to the global production of rice. Members of the Magnaporthe grisea species complex cause blast disease on a wide range of gramineous hosts, including cultivated rice and other grass species. Recently, based on phylogenetic analyses and mating tests, isolates from crabgrass were separated from the species complex and named M. grisea. Then other isolates from grasses including rice were named as M. oryzae. Here, we collected 103 isolates from 11 different species of grasses in Korea and analyzed their phylogenetic relationships and pathogenicity. Phylogenetic analyses of multilocus sequences and DNA fingerprinting revealed that the haplotypes of most isolates were associated with their hosts. However, six isolates had different haplotypes from the expectation, suggesting potential host shift in nature. Results of pathogenicity tests demonstrated that 42 isolates from crabgrass and 19 isolates from rice and other grasses showed cross-infectivity on rice and crabgrass, respectively. Interestingly, we also found that the isolates from rice had a distinct deletion in the calmodulin that can be used as a probe.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Base Sequence
  • Blotting, Southern
  • DNA Primers
  • Haplotypes
  • Magnaporthe / classification*
  • Magnaporthe / pathogenicity*
  • Oryza / microbiology
  • Phylogeny*
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction

Substances

  • DNA Primers

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea grant funded by the Korea government (2012-0001149 and 2012-0000141), the TDPAF (309015-04-SB020) and the Next-Generation BioGreen 21 Program of Rural Development Administration in Korea (PJ00821201). J. Choi is grateful for a graduate fellowship through the Brain Korea 21 Program. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.