NTPDase Specific Inhibitors Suppress Rice Infection by Magnaporthe oryzae

Evolutionarily conserved ecto‐nucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolases (referred to ‘ NTPD ases’ below) are important ecto‐nucleotidases that are able to hydrolyse NTP s and NDP s in the environment to the monophosphate form. NTPD ases are found in a variety of eukaryotic organisms including medical pathogens. However, pathogenic roles of these NTPD ases 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 NTPD ase‐specific inhibitors were significantly reduced, suggesting that NTPD ases 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.