The asexual genus name Pyricularia has been used for the rice blast
fungus since 1892. Based on
morphological similarity, the sexual state of the rice blast fungus was
believed to belong to Magnaporthe,
and was named as Magnaporthe oryzae
in 2002. However, recent
phylogenetic analyses from different labs all demonstrated that the rice blast
fungus does not belong to Magnaporthe. Therefore, a name change is
needed. The new fungal nomenclature
requires One Name for One Fungus, and the asexual state names are now treated
equally as the sexual state names.
As the oldest and legitimate generic name for the rice blast fungus, Pyricularia has the priority. However, because this fungus is a
widely used model system and has large impacts, researchers from all over the
world have been discussing this name issue since April 2012 in the CBS One
Fungus, Which Name symposium at Amsterdam. The most recent discuss was at the Asilomar Fungal Genetics
Conference in March 2013. A
summary of the reasons for using Pyricularia
vs. Magnaporthe is listed below.
Sunday, March 31, 2013
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