In-vitro vs in-vivo inoculation : screening for resistance of Australian rice genotypes against blast fungus

To assist with rapid screening for rice blast resistance as a precursor in a breeding program, the susceptibility to rice blast of 13 rice genotypes from Australia was evaluated in May to June 2013 using three distinct inoculation methods (spot, filter paper and standard methods) at seedling, vegetative and reproductive stages. The results revealed that the spot and filter paper inoculation methods were successful in discerning susceptibility to the rice blast disease (P ≤ 0.05). Disease susceptibility declined significantly from the vegetative to reproductive stages. The standard method was conducted at three different stages for pot plants grown inside the mist house. However, low temperatures did not produce disease symptoms except in a few genotypes. Among the 13 rice genotypes screened, AAT9 expressed a highly resistant response, and AAT4, AAT6, AAT10, AAT11, AAT13, AAT17 and AAT18 expressed resistance at various stages. The results will be useful for selecting elite genotypes for disease tolerance where rice blast is prevalent. In addition, the resistant genotypes can serve as a gene pool used in breeding programmes to develop new resistant genotypes.