Understanding sheath blight resistance in rice: the road behind and the road aheadK AMollaauthorSKarmakarauthorJMollaauthorPBajajauthorR KVarshneyauthorS KDattaauthorKDattaauthorRice sheath blight disease, caused by the basidiomycetous necrotroph Rhizoctonia solani,
became one of the major threats to the rice cultivation worldwide, especially after the adoption
of high-yielding varieties. The pathogen is challenging to manage because of its extensively
broad host range and high genetic variability and also due to the inability to find any satisfactory
level of natural resistance from the available rice germplasm. It is high time to find remedies to
combat the pathogen for reducing rice yield losses and subsequently to minimize the threat to
global food security. The development of genetic resistance is one of the alternative means to
avoid the use of hazardous chemical fungicides. This review mainly focuses on the effort of
better understanding the host–pathogen relationship, finding the gene loci/markers imparting
resistance response and modifying the host genome through transgenic development. The latest
development and trend in the R. solani–rice pathosystem research with gap analysis are
provided.RiceGenetics and GenomicsPlant Disease2020Association of Applied BiologistsArticle