Time for a blast: genomics of Magnaporthe grisea

The rice blast fungus Magnaporthe grisea causes one of the most destructive diseases of rice. Genetic studies of this important pathogen during the past decade have made it an excellent system for investigating fungalplant interactions. Recently, the well coordinated efforts by the rice blast community have also made significant progresses in genomics studies of M. grisea. BAC contigs were assembled and integrated with the high density genetic map, and 12 674 BAC-ends were sequenced as genome survey sequences. Over ten BAC clones have been sequenced by the shot-gun approach. Preliminary analysis with one completely sequenced BAC clone indicated that M. grisea may have a gene density of 4.2 kb/gene and contain 9000 genes. In addition, > 10 000 ESTs have been sequenced from several cDNA libraries representing different stages of fungal growth, differentiation and plant infection. Currently, there are ongoing projects to sequence additional ESTs, telomeres, and 6X coverage of the M. grisea genome. A large-scale functional genomics project on M. grisea and its interaction with rice is also underway. It is an exciting time for genomics studies in M. grisea, and the resources generated in these studies will certainly enhance our understanding of fungal pathogenicity.