Blast, caused by the fungal pathogen Pyricularia grisea, is the most devast
ating disease of rice worldwide. Knowledge of the pathotype composition of
the pathogen in rice fields is essential for rational deployment of resista
nce genes in rice breeding programs. In this study, we assayed the pathotyp
es of the pathogen populations using samples recently collected from 13 maj
or rice-growing provinces of central and southern China. In all, 792 single
spore isolates were tested for pathogenicity reactions using 13 host diffe
rentials consisting of six indica and seven japonica near-isogenic lines (N
ILs). The compositions of the pathogen populations were complex; 48 pathoty
pes were identified with the indica NILs, 82 pathotypes were detected with
the japonica NILs, and a total of 344 pathotypes were identified with both
indica and japonica NILs. There were large differences in distribution of t
he pathotypes among the different rice-growing areas. Even neighbor provinc
es seemed to differ sharply in types and frequencies of the most prevalent
pathotypes. There was also a large difference in the frequencies of the iso
lates producing compatible reactions on the NILs, indicating the difference
in frequencies of avirulence genes in the pathogen populations. The data p
rovided very useful information for formulating strategies for improving bl
ast resistance in rice breeding programs.