<i>Pyricularia graminis‐tritici</i> is not the correct species name for the wheat blast fungus: response to Ceresini <i>et al</i> . (MPP 20:2)

In a review article published in this issue of Molecular Plant Pathology, Ceresini et al. (2019) wrongly treat the wheat blast fungus as a new species, Pyricularia graminis-tritici (Pygt), following the proposal of Castroagudin et al. (2016). Despite the host specificity implied by the name Pygt, the proposed species concept includes isolates that cause major disease epidemics on finger millet and turf grasses (Castroagudin et al., 2016, 2017). These authors also conclude, based on little evidence, that ‘the hypothesis of grass-specific populations for the overall Pyricularia oryzae species complex is falsified’. In addition, they stress that the rice blast fungus, which they describe as P. oryzae, ‘may not provide a suitable model for understanding the biology of Pygt’. All of…