Rice is a staple and most important security food crop consumed by almost half of the world’s population. More rice production is needed due to the rapid population growth in the world. Rice blast caused by the fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae is one of the most destructive diseases of this crop in different part of the world. Breakdown of blast resistance is the major cause of yield instability in several rice growing areas. There is a need to develop strategies providing long-lasting disease resistance against a broad spectrum of pathogens, giving protection for a long time over a broad geographic area, promising for sustainable rice production in the future. So far, molecular breeding approaches involving DNA markers, such as QTL mapping, marker-aided selection, gene pyramiding, allele mining and genetic transformation have been used to develop new resistant rice cultivars. Such techniques now are used as a low-cost, high-throughput alternative to conventional methods allowing rapid introgression of disease resistance genes into susceptible varieties as well as the incorporation of multiple genes into individual lines for more durable blast resistance. The paper briefly reviewed the progress of studies on this aspect to provide the interest information for rice disease resistance breeding. This review includes examples of how advanced molecular method have been used in breeding programs for improve blast resistance. New information and knowledge gained from previous research on the recent strategy and challenges toward improvement of blast disease such as pyramiding disease resistance gene for creating new rice varieties with high resistance against multiple diseases will undoubtedly provide new insights into the rice disease control.

Etlingera elatior is a well-known herb in Malaysia with various pharmaceutical properties. E. elatior flowers grown in three different locations of Malaysia (Kelantan, Pahang and Johor), were investigated for differences in their content of secondary metabolites (total phenolics [TPC], total flavonoids [TFC], and total tannin content [TTC]) as well as for their antioxidant, anticancer, and antibacterial properties. Phenolic acids and flavonoids were isolated and identified using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC). Ferric reducing antioxidant potential (FRAP) and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assays were used to evaluate the antioxidant activities. The anticancer activity of extracts was evaluated using the MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay. When extracted with various solvents (aqueous and ethanolic), samples from the different locations yielded significantly different results for TPC, TFC, and TTC as well as antioxidant activity. Aqueous extracts of E. elatior flowers collected from Kelantan exhibited the highest values: TPC (618.9 mg/100 g DM), TFC (354.2 mg/100 g DM), TTC (129.5 mg/100 g DM), DPPH (76.4 %), and FRAP (6.88 mM of Fe (II)/g) activity with a half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 34.5 μg/mL compared with extracts of flowers collected from the other two locations. The most important phenolic compounds isolated in this study, based on concentration, were: gallic acid > caffeic acid > tannic acid > chlorogenic acid; and the most important flavonoids were: quercetin > apigenin > kaempferol > luteolin > myricetin. Extracts of flowers from Kelantan exhibited potent anticancer activity with a IC50of 173.1 and 196.2 μg/mL against the tumor cell lines MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 respectively, compared with extracts from Pahang (IC50 = 204.5 and 246.2 μg/mL) and Johor samples (IC50 = 277.1 and 296.7 μg/mL). Extracts of E. elatior flowers also showed antibacterial activities against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa with minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) ranging from 30 to >100 μg/mL. In general, therefore, based on the potent antioxidant and anticancer activity of flower extracts, it appears that E. elatior grown in the North-east of Malaysia (Kelantan) is a potential source of therapeutic compounds with anti-cancer activity.

Blast caused by the fungus Magnaporthae grisea (Herbert) Borr. (anamorphe Pyricularia oryza Cav.) is a serious disease of rice (Oryza sativa L.). One method to overcome this disease is to develop disease resistant cultivars. Due to the genetic plasticity in the pathogen genome, there is a continuous threat to the effectiveness of the developed cultivars. Additional studies of the genetics of resistance, virulence stability and functional genomics are required to accelerate research into understanding the molecular basis of blast disease resistance. In this study, individual plants of the F₃ population derived from Pongsu Seribu 2 and Mahsuri were used for pathogenesis assays and inheritance studies of blast resistance. The study was performed with two of the most virulent Malaysian M. grisea pathotypes: P7.2 and P5.0. For blast screening, plants were scored based on the IRRI Standard Evaluation System (SES). F₃ populations showed a segregation ratio of 3R:1S for pathotype P7.2, indicating that resistance to this pathotype is likely controlled by a single nuclear gene. Chi‐square analysis showed that the F₃ families segregated in a 15R:1S ratio for pathotype P5.0. Therefore, locus interactions or epitasis of blast resistance occur against pathotype P5.0 in the F₃ population derived from Pongsu Seribu 2 and Mahsuri. This can be explained by the presence of two independent dominant genes that when present simultaneously, provide resistance to the M. gresia pathotype P5.0. These results indicated that blast resistance in rice is due to the combined effects of multiple loci with major and minor effects. The genetic data generated here will be useful in the breeding of local cultivars for resistance to field blast. The methodology reported here will facilitate the mapping of genes and quantitative trait loci (QTLs) underlying the blast resistance trait.

The increase of atmospheric CO₂ due to global climate change or horticultural practices has direct and indirect effects on food crop quality. One question that needs to be asked, is whether CO₂ enrichment affects the nutritional quality of Malaysian young ginger plants. Responses of total carbohydrate, fructose, glucose, sucrose, protein, soluble amino acids and antinutrients to either ambient (400 μmol/mol) and elevated (800 μmol/mol) CO₂ treatments were determined in the leaf and rhizome of two ginger varieties namely Halia Bentong and Halia Bara. Increasing of CO₂ level from ambient to elevated resulted in increased content of total carbohydrate, sucrose, glucose, and fructose in the leaf and rhizome of ginger varieties. Sucrose was the major sugar followed by glucose and fructose in the leaf and rhizome extract of both varieties. Elevated CO₂ resulted in a reduction of total protein content in the leaf (H. Bentong: 38.0%; H. Bara: 35.4%) and rhizome (H. Bentong: 29.0%; H. Bara: 46.2%). In addition, under CO₂ enrichment, the concentration of amino acids increased by approximately 14.5% and 98.9% in H. Bentong and 12.0% and 110.3% in H. Bara leaf and rhizome, respectively. The antinutrient contents (cyanide and tannin) except phytic acid were influenced significantly (P ≤ 0.05) by CO₂ concentration. Leaf extract of H. Bara exposed to elevated CO₂ exhibited highest content of cyanide (336.1 mg HCN/kg DW), while, highest content of tannin (27.5 g/kg DW) and phytic acid (54.1 g/kg DW) were recorded from H.Bara rhizome grown under elevated CO₂. These results demonstrate that the CO₂ enrichment technique could improve content of some amino acids and antinutrients of ginger as a food crop by enhancing its nutritional and health-promoting properties.

In the present study, 63 polymorphic microsatellite markers related to rice blast resistance genes were fluorescently labelled at the 5′-end with either 6-FAM or HEX using the G5 dye set and incorporated into a multiplex SSR–PCR for the detection of fragments using an automated system. For rice F ₃ families obtained from crosses between Pongsu Seribu 2 (Malaysian blast resistant cultivar) and Mahsuri (a susceptible rice cultivar), the genotypes for 13 designated multiplex SSR panels were determined. The genotyping assays were performed using a capillary-based ABIPRISM 3100 genetic analyser. The sizes of the SSRs alleles observed in the range from 79 to 324 bp. The observed marker segregation data were analysed using the Chi ² test. A genetic linkage map covering ten chromosomes and comprising 63 polymorphic SSR markers was constructed, and the distorted loci were localised to linkage groups. The results indicated that distorted loci are presented on eight chromosomes.