ARS | Publication request: A PRELIMINARY CHARACTERIZATION OF THE RICE BLAST FUNGUS ON 'BANKS' RICE

Submitted to: Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Series
Publication Type: Experiment Station
Publication Acceptance Date: June 17, 2005
Publication Date: August 9, 2005
Citation: Lee, F.N., Cartwright, R.D., Jia, Y., Correll, J.C., Moldenhauer, K.A., Gibbons, J.W., Boyett, V., Zhou, E., Boza, E., Seyran, E. 2005. A preliminary characterization of the rice blast fungus on 'Banks' rice. In: Norman, R.J., Meullenet, J.-F., Moldenhauer, K.A.K., editors. B.R. Wells Rice Research Studies 2004, Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Series 529. p. 103-110. Available: http://www.uark.edu/depts/agripub/Publications/researchseries/

Technical Abstract: 'Banks', named after Heartsill G. Banks (the first UA Rice Research and Extension Center (RREC) director in 1926), was released to seed growers during 2004. Developed at the RREC, Banks is a high yielding variety with the major blast resistance (R) gene Pi-ta and offers a primary advantage over LaGrue and Wells through an increased resistance to common rice blast races. The Pi-ta gene provides resistance to common blast races IB-49 and IC-17 but is known to be susceptible to rare races such as IE-1k. Under the highly conducive environmental conditions of 2004, approximately 20 acres of a 'Banks' field in Clay County was severely damaged by rice blast. In addition, infrequent blasted plants were recovered from other 'Banks' fields in Clay and Lawrence Counties. Investigations confirmed diseased plants to be 'Banks'. Fungal isolates from the blasted plants were tentatively characterized as race IE-1k of Magnaporthe grisea. Pi-ta based cultivars including Katy, Kaybonnet, Drew and Ahrent were widely utilized in Arkansas production areas during the 15 years since Katy was released in 1989. Race IE-1k, discovered soon after the release of Katy and considered a potential threat to Arkansas rice production, was believed to be "poorly environmentally adapted" because incidence has been limited to a few random plants infrequently discovered in commercial fields and research field plots. Initial results of the pathological characterization of blast isolates from the 'Banks' variety are presented here.