Abstract: Magnaporthe oryzae and Fusarium graminearum are two important plant pathogens， which cause destructive diseases on gramineous crops， and are also two model organisms for the study on plant fungal pathogens. To reveal the infection ability and invasion process of the two pathogens on Zizania caduciflora， their pathogenicity were tested， and the infection processes on different parts of Z. caduciflora were compared. Our data showed that M. oryzae could infect the leaves and leaf sheaths rather than the fleshy stems of Z. caduciflora. Contrarily， F. graminearum generated symptoms on fleshy stems， but failed to infect unwounded leaves or leaf sheaths of Z. caduciflora. Fluorescent microscopy of the lesions showed that M. oryzae performed normal invasion process on leave surface of Z. caduciflora， producing typical appressoria and infection hyphae. In addition， the pathogenicity\|altered mutants of the two fungi can be easily differentiated on Z. caduciflora. These findings indicate that M. oryzae and F. graminearum can infect Z. caduciflora and make potential damage; meanwhile， Z. caduciflora can be an alternative host used in the research on the pathogenesis of the two pathogens.

Key words: Magnaporthe oryzae, Fusarium graminearum, Zizania caduciflora, pathogenicity, Infection process