La resistenza al brusone del riso: il contributo delle moderne applicazioni genetiche a una problematica attuale ed alla sua soluzione

Blast disease, caused by the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae, is the most serious worldwide rice fungal disease, providing production losses up to 50-70% in different growing areas of the world. To contain blast disease damages the strategies currently available are agronomic practices and genetic resistance. Nowadays most of the traditional rice varieties cultivated in Italy (eg. Carnaroli and Vialone Nano) are susceptible to this disease. Genetic resistance to blast disease is conferred by the presence of the Pi (resistance to Pyricularia) genes and thanks to molecular biology techniques such as Marker-Assisted Selection and “gene pyramiding” several strategies can be utilized to introduce different resistance genes in the same variety with the aim of conferring a durable and broad spectrum resistance. In Italy, adoption of such approaches by research Institutions is allowing the development of rice lines resistant to the disease and the dissection of the genetic processes responsible for blast resistance.