Screening of wild Oryza species against bacterial leaf blight (Xanthomonas oryzae py. oryza) pathotypes of Punjab (India)

One-hundred and sixty-seven accessions belonging to 13 wild Oryza species were screened against the bacterial leaf blight (BB) pathogen (Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryza) in Punjab, India. Nine species were identified as carrying resistant genes against the four most prevalent pathotypes under conditions in Punjab. These included O. barthii (eight accessions), O. longistaminata (five accessions), O. meridionalis (three accessions), O. nivara (five accessions), O. rufipogen (two accessions), and one accession each from O. punctata, O. minuta, O. malampuzhaensis and O. latifolia. This is the first report showing the availability of BB resistance in two species namely, O. meridionalis and O. punctata. The resistant accessions, especially those with a similar genome (AA) could potentially be used for the transfer of BB resistance to well-adapted high-yielding rice cultivars.