Virulence of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae on rice lines containing single resistance genes and gene combinations

Fifty isolates of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae were collected from different rice-producing districts of Nepal and evaluated for their virulence on these 11 rice lines having from one to four resistance genes: IRBB4 (Xa4), IRBB5 (M5), IRBB7 (Xa7), IRBB8 (xa8), IRBB10 (Xa10), IRBB14 (Xa14), and IRBB21 (Xa21), two-gene combination AY4+5 (Xa4 and xa5), three-gene combinations NH21-37-1-1 (Xa4,xa5, and xa13) and NH24-10-1-3 (Xa4, xa5, and Xa21), and four-gene combination NH56-1-44-4 (Xa4, xa5, xa13, and Xa21). The ability of an isolate to cause lesions with different lengths across the lines was interpreted as virulence. Isolates that were consistently associated with high or low virulence were statistically differentiated. Most isolates produced large lesions on near-isogenic lines with single genes and small lesions on lines with different gene combinations. Based on infection responses on the two-, three-, and four-gene combinations, five virulence groups were identified. Isolates in virulence group I were widely distributed. The line x isolate interactions were generally not significant with gene combinations, indicating a low possibility of specificity. A line with a four-gene combination, NH56, showed wider spectrum and higher level of resistance to X. oryzae pv. oryzae than the other lines. The results of this study will facilitate the deployment of effective resistance to X. oryzae pv. oryzae in Nepal.