Abstract:

Climate change is exerting an increasingly profound influence on rice diseases, emerging as a major threat to global rice production and food security. This review synthesizes current understanding of the mechanisms by which climate change affects rice disease dynamics, alongside recent research advances. Rising temperatures accelerate pathogen life cycles, promote spore germination, infection, and dissemination, and impair rice immunity by disrupting hormone signaling pathways. Altered precipitation patterns not only increase field humidity and facilitate pathogen spread, but also reshape rice canopy structure and rhizosphere environments: modifying microclimates and microbial communities that indirectly influence disease outbreaks. Elevated atmospheric CO₂ alters rice carbon and nitrogen metabolism, often reducing the synthesis of defense-related secondary metabolites, while higher O₃ levels induce oxidative stress, weakening physical barriers and interfering with disease signaling networks. Extreme weather events, such as typhoons and droughts, further exacerbate physiological stress and susceptibility in rice, and enhance the long-distance transmission of pathogens. While significant progress has been made in uncovering these mechanisms, key limitations persist particularly the lack of long-term, cross-regional monitoring and integrated analysis. The adaptive evolution of pathogens and their dynamic interactions with host defense systems under changing climates remain underexplored. It is recommended that future research focus on cross-scale and cross-regional systematic studies to uncover the transmission patterns and dynamic responses of rice diseases under various climate scenarios. Efforts should be made to accelerate the breeding of disease-resistant varieties, optimize agronomic practices, and develop intelligent monitoring and early warning systems. This will help establish a comprehensive, multi-level, and coordinated control system that spans from genetic research to field management, and from early warning to intervention, providing strong scientific support for rice disease control in the context of climate change.

Key words: Climate change, Rice disease, Pathogenic mechanism, Disease resistance