Evaluation of seedling resistance of rice germplasm resources to sheath blight (Rhizoctonia solani)

Rice sheath blight, caused by Rhizoctonia solani, is the most serious disease in the southern rice producing regions of China. The use of resistant varieties is the most economic strategy to control the disease. In this paper, a seedling inoculation method was used to evaluate rice germplasm resources for resistance to sheath blight. A total of 363 rice varieties were evaluated with a set of R. solani isolates. The results indicated that the rice varieties generally lacked resistance to R. solani, and no highly resistant/immune (HR) variety was found. However, two varieties displayed clear resistance (R) and 37 showed moderate resistance (MR) to the fungus. Overall, hybrid rice varieties have better resistance than conventional rice varieties, and among hybrid rice varieties, those with the II-32A sterile line genetic background were the most resistant. The results also indicated significant interactions between rice varieties and pathogen isolates, suggesting that an understanding of local R. solani populations is needed when recommending varieties to local growers