Resistance Genes and Selection DNA Markers for Blast Disease in Rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Blast is a serious disease caused by a fungal pathogen Pyricularia oryzae Cavara of rice (Oryza sativa L.). The use of resistant varieties is considered one of the most efficient ways of crop protection from the disease. In addition to a large amount of information accumulated during the long history of genetic studies on resistance to rice blast, recent progress in rice genomics has enabled us to use DNA markers for breeding the resistant varieties by marker assisted selection (MAS). In this report, we summarize the reported rice blast resistance genes and their selection markers to encourage further utilization for breeding. First, we assemble the information about the reported genes with regard to their number, chromosomal locations, patterns of resistance, donor strains, and molecular characterization of the cloned genes by reviewing the literature. In addition, we present some remaining issues about the nomenclature system and identification of the resistance genes. Then, we provide the first assembled list of the reported DNA markers for blast resistance genes, including the sequences of the primer pairs, genetic distances from the resistance genes, and cross combinations of the parental strains used to detect the polymorphisms. This information will help rice breeders to improve the resistance to rice blast by MAS.