Fungal blast caused Magnaporthe oryzae, bacterial blight caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo), bacterial streak caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzicola (Xoc) are devastating diseases of rice worldwide. Application of host resistance to these pathogens is the most economical and environment-friendly approach to solve this problem. Some major disease resistance (MR) genes controlling qualitative resistance and quantitative trait loci (QTLs) controlling quantitative resistance are valuable sources for broad-spectrum and durable disease resistance. We have characterized a number of rice MR genes and resistance QTL genes that confer a broad-spectrum or durable resistance to M. oryzae, Xoo, and Xoc. How to efficiently use these genes for rice improvement will be discussed.

• Shiping Wang(National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, National Center of Plant Gene Research (Wuhan), Huazhong Agricultural University, China)