Engineering of rice varieties with enhanced resistances to both blast and bacterial blight diseases via CRISPR/Cas9.

Rice blast and bacterial blight represent two of major diseases having devastating impact on the yield of rice in most rice-growing countries. Developments of resistant cultivars are the most economic and effective strategy to control these diseases. Here, we used CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing to rapidly install mutations in three known broad-spectrum blast-resistant genes, Bsr-d1, Pi21 and ERF922, in an indica thermosensitive genic male sterile (TGMS) rice line Longke638S (LK638S).

A Procedure for Inducing the Occurrence of Rice Seedling Blast in Paddy Field.

Rice blast caused by the filamentous fungus Magnaporthe oryzae, is arguably the most devastating rice disease worldwide. Development of a high-throughput and reliable field blast resistance evaluation system is essential for resistant germplasm screening, resistance genes identification and resistant varieties breeding. However, the occurrence of rice blast in paddy field is easily affected by various factors, particularly lack of sufficient inoculum, which always leads to the nonuniform occurrence and reduced disease severity.