Evaluation of Blast Resistance in Zinc-Biofortified Rice

Rice is a staple food for over half of the world’s population, and it is grown in over 100 countries. Rice blast disease can cause 10% to 30% crop loss, enough to feed 60 million people. Breeding for resistance can help farmers avoid costly fungicides. This study assessed the relationship between rice blast disease and zinc or anthocyanin content in biofortified rice. Susceptibility to foliar and panicle blast was assessed in a rice panel which differed on grain zinc content and pigmentation. A rice panel (n = 23) was challenged with inoculum of two isolates of Magnaporthe oryzae in a screenhouse-based assay. The zinc content with foliar blast severity was analyzed in the leaves and grain of a subset of non-inoculated rice plants. The effect of foliar zinc supplementation on seedlings was assessed by varying levels of zinc fertilizer solution on four blast susceptible cultivars at 14 days after planting (DAP), followed by inoculation with the blast pathogen at 21 DAP. Foliar blast severity was scored on a 0–9 scale at 7 days after inoculation. The rice panel was scored for anthocyanin content, and the data were correlated with foliar blast severity. The panel was grown in the field, and panicle blast, grain yield and yield-related agronomic traits were measured. Significant differences were observed in foliar blast severity among the rice genotypes, with IRBLK-KA and IR96248-16-2-3-3-B having mean scores greater than 4, as well as BASMATI 370 (a popular aromatic variety), while the rest of the genotypes were resistant. Supplementation with foliar zinc led to a significant decrease in susceptibility. A positive correlation was observed between foliar and panicle blast. The Zn in the leaves was negatively correlated with foliar blast severity, and had a marginally positive correlation with panicle blast. There was no relationship between foliar blast severity and anthocyanin content. Grain yield had a negative correlation with panicle blast, but no correlation was observed between Zn in the grain and grain yield. This study shows that Zn biofortification in the grain may not enhance resistance to foliar and panicle blast. Furthermore, the zinc-biofortified genotypes were not agronomically superior to the contemporary rice varieties. There is a need to apply genomic selection to combine promising alleles into adapted rice genetic backgrounds.