Rice Blast Disease

Professor Nick Talbot
The Sainsbury Laboratory
The biology of infection by the rice blast fungus.

My research group studies rice blast disease caused by the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae. We are interested in understanding the biology of plant infection by the rice blast fungus and how it is able to overcome rice defences. We study appressorium development and invasive growth by the fungus and also characterise the mechanisms by which fungal effector proteins work and how the genes that encode them are regulated.

We collaborate with other who study rice immunity and together we try to use pathogen guided approaches to identify and deploy rice resistance in the field. We work particularly in sub-Saharan Africa to develop new resistant rice cultivars.