Researchers at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research-National Rice Research Institute have mapped out genes that help in blast-disease resistance in rice landraces.
Rice landraces collected from north-eastern states of India had the highest resistance while those from Tripura have the highest number of resistant genes.
Because the rice blast pathogen virulence undergoes rapid changes, it hard to impart durable blast resistance in rice varieties. This is why scientists are constantly trying to discover new broad-spectrum blast resistant genes in rice germplasm.
Read the full story at The Hindu.
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