Emergence of resistance-breaking isolates of Rice yellow mottle virus during serial inoculations

Two sources of resistance to Rice yellow mottle virus were challenged in host passage experiments. Pronounced changes in pathogenicity occurred over serial passages of virus isolates inoculated to partially or highly resistant cultivars. The changes encompassed the known existing pathogenic variability of field isolates. Ultimately, the high resistance of the Oryza indica cv. Gigante was overcome and the partial resistance of the O. sativa japonica cv. Azucena broke down. The effect was resistance-specific as different isolates overcame partial and high resistance, and may also be allele-specific as different isolates overcame the resistance of cultivars carrying the same resistance gene. The ability of isolates to break resistance was not linked to a high initial pathogenicity of the isolates and did not result in higher virus content in the infected plants. Implications for resistance breeding and deployment are discussed.