Rice Scientists Meet in Little Rock to Combat Destructive Rice Blast Disease

The Fifth International Rice Blast Conference was concluded last 12 to 13 August at the Peabody Hotel in Little Rock, Arkansas. Around 175 rice scientists from more than 20 countries met to discuss rice blast, the disease caused by the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae. Keynote speeches were given by prominent scientists including Robert Zeigler, the director of the International Rice Research Insitute, Yulin JIa, U.S. Department of Agriculture A plant pathologist, and Jim Correll, plant pathologist of the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture. 

Research presentations were conducted: to understand the pathogen and its interaction with rice and other host plants, as well as environmental influences that inhibit or promote the disease; rice management strategies that would help growers manage the disease and preserve their yields; discovery of marker genes that help identify resistances and other desirable traits that would increase resistance; and ways to continuously develop more durable resistance agains the constantly evolving rice blast pathogen.

Lifetime Dedication to Rice Blast Research Awards were also presented to three scientists during the conference:

• Frances Meehan Latterell, research plant pathologist at the US Army Biological Laboratories, Fort Detrick, Maryland, and plant pathologist, USDA, Agricultural Research Service in Frederick, Maryland
• Sally Leong, an emeritus faculty member of the University of Wisconsin, Madison
• Toni Marchetti, Research Pathologist with the U.S Department of the Army, formerly with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

For further details, see http://arkansasagnews.uark.edu/5320.htm