Poster: Epidemiology: Pathogen Dispersal
620-P
Quantification of airborne inoculums of Magnaporthe oryzae by using TaqMan Real-time PCR
X. CHEN (1), K. Yuan (1), S. Wang (2), F. Guo (2), B. Wu (2) (1) China Agricultural University, China; (2) China Agricultural University, China
Rice blast caused by Magnaporthe oryzae is one of the most devastating diseases in China and worldwide. Accurate and timely quantification of airborne spores of the pathogen is important to disease forecast and management of the disease. In this study, airborne spores were trapped on the tape with a Burkard sporewatch spore samplers mounted in a rice field in Panjin, Liaoning province, China from July 1 to October 13, 2015. The spores were washed off the tape and followed by DNA extraction by using Mobio Power Soil DNA Isolation Kit, and quantified by TaqMan Real-time PCR. Specific primers and probe were designed to target the 28S rDNA of Magnaporthe oryzae and reaction system was optimized. qPCR results of field samples revealed two sporepeaks during the study period. They were 9.46 spores /m3 from July 18 to 20 and 2.95 spores /m3 from August 15 to 17, which were followed by a high incidence of leaf blast on August 4 and first observation of neck blast on August 22. This suggested that quantity of airborne spores of Magnaporthe oryzae could be useful in disease forecasting of rice blast. The qPCR system combined with spore samplers provided an efficient way to quantify airborne pathogen for disease forecasting and guiding disease management of rice blast.