Screening Thai landrace rice for blast resistance gene Pi9, Pi36, Pigm(t) using DNA markers

Abstract

Rice blast caused by the fungal pathogenMagnaporthe grisea, is one of the most devastatingdiseases in rice production worldwide. Informationon rice blast resistant gene is important for ricecultivar development. The objective of this studywas to identify rice blast disease resistant genes in203 landrace Thai rice cultivars including 40 cultivars from the South, 19 cultivars from the North,144 cultivars from the Northeast of Thailandcomprised of 45 floating rice cultivars and 99lowland rice cultivars using gene specific markersfor blast resistant gene Pi9, Pi36 and Pigm(t). Theresults showed that all 203 cultivars have at leastone blast resistant gene and 42 cultivars have all thethree blast resistant genes. The outcome of thisresearch will be very useful for development of newblast resistance elite rice cultivars in the future.