Mating Type Distribution and Fertility Status of Magnaporthe grisea Populations from Various Hosts in India

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Abstract
Production of perithecia, asci, and ascospores by Indian isolates of Magnaporthe grisea is rare and has not been found among the Southern Indian isolates of the blast pathogen. From among 138 monoconidial isolates that infect rice and other hosts, we now report the distribution of mating types (MAT1-1 and MAT1-2) of M. grisea in finger millet and paragrass (Brachiaria mutica)-infecting isolates. Twenty-eight of the 96 finger millet isolates, 5 of the 16 paragrass isolates, and none of the 26 rice isolates produced fertile perithecia in laboratory matings with fertile testers. Backcrosses of ascospore progenies to the parental M. grisea isolate but not to the tester strain resulted in fertile perithecial formation, and a further backcrossing scheme indicated definite fertility patterns of Mendelian inheritance in M. grisea.