Pathotype profiling, distribution and virulence analysis of <i>Xanthomonas oryzae</i> pv. <i>oryzae</i> causing bacterial blight disease of rice in Bangladesh

Abstract Bacterial blight (BB) caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae ( Xoo ) is a serious threat to rice production in the world. Identification of Xoo races pattern, distribution and deployment of race‐specific resistant genes is a sustainable strategy to develop bacterial blight resistant varieties. In this study, a total of 118 isolates of Xoo were collected from 8 rice‐growing regions of Bangladesh to identify the existing pathotypes of Xoo . All tested isolates were virulent on the susceptible rice varieties viz. IR24, Purbachi and BR11. The tested isolates were evaluated on 13 near‐isogenic lines of rice and each line consisted of a single bacterial blight resistant gene viz Xa1, Xa2, Xa3, Xa4, xa5, Xa7, xa8, Xa10, Xa11, xa13, Xa14,…