The type species of Magnaporthe
is Magnaporthe salvinii (rice stem
rot), which is not congeneric with Magnaporthe
(Pyricularia) oryzae or grisea, based
on phylogenetic analysis, morphology, and ecological characters (for details,
see Zhang et al. Mycologia. 2011 103(6):1267-76. doi: 10.3852/11-022). Therefore, a change of genus name is
needed. If we follow the new
nomenclature (Melbourne Code), which considers names for sexual and asexual
morphs equally, the name for the rice blast fungus should be Pyricularia oryzae, while the name for
the stem rot is Nakataea oryzae,
because these are the older generic names. Another option is to write a proposal to conserve the genus Magnaporthe for the blast fungus.
