Wheat blast: The last enemy of hunger fighters

Abstract

Effective strategies for disease control are crucial for sustaining world food production and ensuring food security for the population. Wheat blast, a disease caused by the pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae pathotype Triticum, has been a concern for cereal producers and researchers due to its aggressiveness and rapid expansion. To solve this problem, the development of resistant varieties with durable resistance is an effective, economical and sustainable way to control the disease. Conventional breeding can be aided by several molecular tools to facilitate the mining of many sources of resistance, such as R genes and QTLs. The identification of new sources of resistance, whether in the wheat crop or in other cereals are an opportunity for efficient wheat breeding through the application of different techniques. Since this disease is still poorly studied in wheat, knowledge of the rice Magnaporthe pathotype may be adapted to control wheat blast. Thus, genetic mapping, molecular markers, transgenic approaches, and genomic editing are valuable technologies to fight wheat blast. This review aimed to compile the biotechnological alternatives available to accelerate the development of improved cultivars for resistance to wheat blast.