The Genetic Diversity And Pathogenicity Of Magnaporthe Oryzae In Suriname

For the past years each season the rice farmers in Suriname experience a decline in yield and quality of the rice due to the rice blast fungi(Magnaporthe oryzae), indicating resistance of the used cultivars is breaking down.Advanced understanding of the rice blast pathogen population in Suriname should lead to the utilization of cultivars with better blast resistance.During 2013 and 2014 samples were collected in three main rice-growing areas in Suriname.The isolates from the three areas were used to determine:differences in population structure using rep-PCR with Pot2 markers, mating type distribution and their pathogenicity on a set of near-isogenic lines (NILs). Significant population diversity indicated by a low gene flow was found among the isolates collected from the main rice-growing areas.The populations from Saramacca and Nickerie showed 2 clusters.Mating type-PCR showed only mating type MAT 1.2 in 100% of the isolates.The pathogenicity analysis showed 11 different pathotypes and variability in aggressivenes stressing that there might be some differences between the races from the different areas.This study provides recent information about the rice infecting Magnaporthe oryzae strains in Suriname and may guide further studies on the pathogen behavior in Suriname.