Banded leaf and sheath blight: threat to maize

Abstract

Banded leaf and sheath blight (BLSB) is a destructive disease of maize and it leads to 100 per cent yield losses. The causal organism of BLSB is Rhizoctonia solani and the organism grows under favourable humidity (88–90 per cent) and temperature (15–35oC) conditions. The management practices used to control the disease spread are inadequate at this moment due to its broad host range. Therefore, the identification and exploitation of genetic resistance is an economical and sustainable option to control this disease. However, limited genetic variability poses a major challenge for resistance breeding against BLSB in maize. A few resistant sources have been identified and used for the identification of QTLs and candidate genes responsible for BLSB resistance. Here, we summarized the management practices, genetic resources, and different molecular approaches used to identify the QTLs and key candidate genes associated with BLSB resistance in maize.