NTPDase Specific Inhibitors Suppress Rice Infection by Magnaporthe oryzae

Evolutionarily conserved ecto-nucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolases (referred to NTPDases' below) are important ecto-nucleotidases that are able to hydrolyse NTPs and NDPs in the environment to the monophosphate form. NTPDases are found in a variety of eukaryotic organisms including medical pathogens. However, pathogenic roles of these NTPDases in medical and plant pathogens are still very obscure. Here, we demonstrate that conidial germination, appressorium formation and pathogenicity of rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae that had been pretreated with NTPDase-specific inhibitors were significantly reduced, suggesting that NTPDases of M.oryzae play an important role in its infection. Our findings may provide a new avenue for powerful fungicide development and the control of rice blast.