Pathogenicity and virulence of the blast fungus <i>magnaporthe oryzae</i>

is the causal agent of the most serious disease of cultivated rice and an emerging threat to wheat production. Controlling blast diseases is therefore critical to ensuring global food security. In this review, we describe the mechanism by which the fungus ruptures the plant cuticle to gain entry to host cells and the virulence determinants necessary for suppression of host immunity and rapid colonization of plant tissue.