Molecular Approaches for Disease Resistance in Rice

Abstract

AbstractRice production needs to be sustained in the coming decades, with changing climatic conditions becoming more conducive to the prevalence of disease outbreaks. Major rice diseases collectively cause enormous economic damage and yield instability. Breeding for disease-resistant rice varieties could be one of the best options to counter these disease outbreaks. Disease-screening protocols and newer technologies are essential for effective phenotyping and would aid in gene discovery and function. Understanding the genetics of disease mechanisms and stacking of broad-spectrum disease-resistance genes could lead to faster development of rice varieties with multiple disease resistance. New molecular breeding approaches are discussed for the development of these varieties. The molecular biology of disease resistance is now better understood and could be well manipulated for improved resilience. Transgenic approaches for disease resistance are discussed. Genome-editing tools for the development of disease-resistant rice varieties are thoroughly discussed. The use of bioinformatics tools to speed up the process and to obtain a better understanding of molecular genetics mechanisms of disease resistance is explained.