The emergence of wheat blast in Zambia and Bangladesh was caused by the same genetic lineage of Magnaporthe oryzae

Analysis of genotyping data (84 SNPs) derived from blast fungus (Magnaporthe oryzae) isolates (N=186) from 13 different grasses in order to establish the genetic makeup and the phylogenetic placement of the wheat-infecting lineage that caused a wheat blast outbreak in Zambia (2018-2020). The wheat-infecting isolates from Zambia (2018-2020) clustered together with the wheat-infecting isolates that caused the initial outbreak in Bangladesh (2016). We concluded that the same lineage responsible for the initial wheat blast outbreak in Bangladesh (2016) caused the wheat blast outbreak in Zambia (2018-2020). The genotyping of 84 SNPs in multiple grasses permitted the identification of the epidemic lineage responsible for the outbreaks in both Bangladesh and Zambia.