Emergence of wheat blast in Bangladesh was caused by a South American lineage of Magnaporthe oryzae
BackgroundIn February 2016, a new fungal disease was spotted in wheat fields across eight districts in Bangladesh. The epidemic spread to an estimated 15,000 hectares, about 16 of the cultivated wheat area in Bangladesh, with yield losses reaching up to 100 Within weeks of the onset of the epidemic, we performed transcriptome sequencing of symptomatic leaf samples collected directly from Bangladeshi fields.ResultsReinoculation of seedlings with strains isolated from infected wheat grains showed wheat blast symptoms on leaves of wheat but not rice. Our phylogenomic and population genomic analyses revealed that the wheat blast outbreak in Bangladesh was most likely caused by a wheat infecting South American lineage of the blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae.ConclusionOur findings suggest that genomic surveillance can be rapidly applied to monitor plant disease outbreaks and provide valuable information regarding the identity and origin of the infectious agent.
BMC Biology