Induction of thaumatin‐like proteins (TLPs) in Rhizoctonia solani‐infected rice and characterization of two new cDNA clones

Thaumatin‐like proteins (TLPs) were shown to be induced in rice plants (cv. IR58) that were infected with the sheath blight fungus, Rhizoctonia solani . Western blot analysis revealed the presence of two TLPs with sizes of 25 and 24 kDa which are different from a previously reported TLP with a size of 15.6 kDa from rice plants infiltrated with the non‐pathogenic bacterium, Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae . By probing a cDNA expression library prepared from RNA isolated from R. solani ‐infected rice plants with a TLP antibody, several putative TLP cDNA clones were isolated and sequenced. The cDNA clones appeared to be derived from two different genes which shared only 77% sequence identity with each other and a lower percentage of sequence identity with the previously reported TLP cDNA clone. Southern blot analysis with the two TLP cDNAs revealed different rice genomic DNA fragments. Northern blot analysis also confirmed that a 1.1‐kb RNA detectable by the TLP cDNA inserts was induced by fungal infection. Thus rice TLPs are encoded by a family of at least three genes which are differentially expressed in responses to bacterial or fungal pathogens.     

The defense-responsive genes showing enhanced and repressed expression after pathogen infection in rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Despite large numbers of studies about defense response, processes involved in the resistance of plants to incompatible pathogens are still largely uncharacterized. The objective of this study was to identify genes involved in defense response by cDNA array analysis and to gain knowledge about the functions of the genes involved in defense response. Approximately 20000 rice cDNA clones were arrayed on nylon filters. RNA samples isolated from different rice lines after infection with incompatible strains or isolates of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae or Pyricularia grisea, respectively, were used to synthesize cDNA as probes for screening the cDNA arrays. A total of 100 differentially expressed unique sequences were identified from 5 pathogen-host combinations. Fifty-three sequences were detected as showing enhanced expression and 47 sequences were detected as showing repressed expression after pathogen infection. Sequence analysis revealed that most of the 100 sequences had various degrees of homology with     

Functional interplay between two Xanthomonas oryzae pv,. oryzae secretion systems in modulating virulence on rice

The type II (T2S) and type III (T3S) secretion systems are important for virulence of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae, causal agent of bacterial leaf blight of rice. The T3S of gram-negative bacterial plant pathogens has been shown to suppress host defense responses, including programmed cell death reactions, whereas the T2S is involved in secreting cell-wall-degrading enzymes. Here, we show that a T3S-deficient (T3S-) mutant of X. oryzae pv. oryzae can induce a basal plant defense response seen as callose deposition, immunize rice against subsequent X. oryzae pv. oryzae infection, and cause cell-death-associated nuclear fragmentation. A T2S- T3S- double mutant exhibited a substantial reduction in the ability to evoke these responses. We purified two major effectors of the X. oryzae pv. oryzae T2S and characterized them to be a cellulase (ClsA) and a putative cellobiosidase (CbsA). The purified ClsA, CbsA, and lipase/esterase (LipA; a previously identified T2S effector) proteins induced rice defense responses that were suppressible by X. oryzae pv. oryzae in a T3S-dependent manner. These defense responses also were inducible by the products of the action of these purified proteins on rice cell walls. We further show that a CbsA- mutant or a ClsA- LipA- double mutant are severely virulence deficient. These results indicate that the X. oryzae pv. oryzae T2S secretes important virulence factors, which induce innate rice defense responses that are suppressed by T3S effectors to enable successful infection.     

白叶枯病菌胁迫下云南普通野生稻SSH文库的构建及抗病相关基因分析

以云南普通野生稻为材料,利用抑制差减杂交技术（SSH）,构建了白叶枯病菌胁迫的云南普通野生稻特异表达基因的差减文库.通过对文库所有阳性单克隆进行测序,聚类分析后共获得494条高质量的表达序列标签（EST）.经过BlastN分析,有417条与已知功能的序列有较高同源性;经BlastX分析,有104条EST与未知功能蛋白或假定蛋白有较高相似性,49条EST未能找到同源匹配,341条EST与已知功能蛋白有较高同源性.初步分析发现,这些基因主要涉及能量代谢、蛋白质代谢、核酸代谢、防御与抗逆应答反应、信号转导、光合作用及膜运输等代谢过程.使用半定量RT-PCR研究了7个可能与白叶枯病抗性相关的EST序列在云南普通野生稻对照和白叶枯病菌处理的叶片中的表达情况,并获得这些基因的表达谱.结果发现,克隆编号为OR7,OR68和OR826的EST受白叶枯病菌胁迫诱导上调表达,其中OR826 EST在蛋白数据库中无同源序列,可能是一类新的白叶枯病抗性基因,而组成型表达的OR143 EST在对照和接菌处理的叶片中均能检测到其mRNA的表达,但其表达量在白叶枯病菌胁迫48 h后逐渐增强,推测这些基因直接参与了云南普通野生稻抗病防御反应.本研究为从云南普通野生稻中发掘和克隆新的白叶枯病抗性基因提供了理论依据,为进一步研究云南普通野生稻抗白叶枯病的分子机制奠定了基础.     

Three types of defense-responsive genes are involved in resistance to bacterial blight and fungal blast diseases in rice

Bacterial blight and fungal blast diseases of rice, caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae and Pyricularia grisea Sacc., respectively, are two of the most devastating diseases in rice worldwide. To study the defense responses to infection with each of these pathogens, expression profiling of 12 defense-responsive genes was performed using near-isogenic rice lines that are resistant or susceptible to bacterial blight and fungal blast, respectively, and rice cultivars that are resistant or susceptible to both pathogens. All 12 genes showed constitutive expression, but expression levels increased in response to infection. Based on their expression patterns in 12 host-pathogen combinations, these genes could be classified into three types, pathogen non-specific (6), pathogen specific but race non-specific (4) and race specific (2). Most of the 12 genes were only responsive during incompatible interactions. These results suggest that bacterial blight and fungal blast resistances share common pathway(s), but are also regulated by different defense pathways in rice. Activation of the corresponding R gene is the key step that initiates the action of these genes in defense responses. The chromosomal locations and pathogen specificities of seven of the 12 genes were consistent with those of previously identified quantitative trait loci for rice disease resistance, which indicates that some of the 12 genes studied may have a phenotypic impact on disease resistance in rice.     

XopR, a type III effector secreted by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae, suppresses microbe-associated molecular pattern-triggered immunity in Arabidopsis thaliana

Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae is the causal agent of bacterial blight of rice. The XopR protein, secreted into plant cells through the type III secretion apparatus, is widely conserved in xanthomonads and is predicted to play important roles in bacterial pathogenicity. Here, we examined the function of XopR by constructing transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana plants expressing it under control of the dexamethasone (DEX)-inducible promoter. In the transgenic plants treated with DEX, slightly delayed growth and variegation on leaves were observed. Induction of four microbe-associated molecular pattern (MAMP)-specific early-defense genes by a nonpathogenic X. campestris pv. campestris hrcC deletion mutant were strongly suppressed in the XopR-expressing plants. XopR expression also reduced the deposition of callose, an immune response induced by flg22. When transiently expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana, a XopR::Citrine fusion gene product localized to the plasma membrane. The deletion of XopR in X. oryzae pv. oryzae resulted in reduced pathogenicity on host rice plants. Collectively, these results suggest that XopR inhibits basal defense responses in plants rapidly after MAMP recognition.     

Inhibition of resistance gene-mediated defense in rice by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzicola

Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae and the closely related X. oryzae pv. oryzicola cause bacterial blight and bacterial leaf streak of rice, respectively. Although many rice resistance (R) genes and some corresponding avirulence (avr) genes have been characterized for bacterial blight, no endogenous avr/R gene interactions have been identified for leaf streak. Genes avrXa7 and avrXa10 from X. oryzae pv. oryzae failed to elicit the plant defense-associated hypersensitive reaction (HR) and failed to prevent development of leaf streak in rice cultivars with the corresponding R genes after introduction into X. oryzae pv. oryzicola despite the ability of this pathovar to deliver an AvrXa10:Cya fusion protein into rice cells. Furthermore, coinoculation of X. oryzae pv. oryzicola inhibited the HR of rice cultivar IRBB10 to X. oryzae pv. oryzae carrying avrXa10. Inhibition was quantitative and dependent on the type III secretion system of X. oryzae pv. oryzicola. The results suggest that one or more X. oryzae pv. oryzicola type III effectors interfere with avr/R gene-mediated recognition or signaling and subsequent defense response in the host. Inhibition of R gene-mediated defense by X. oryzae pv. oryzicola may explain, in part, the apparent lack of major gene resistance to leaf streak.     

The rice 14-3-3 gene family and its involvement in responses to biotic and abiotic stress.

14-3-3 proteins function as major regulators of primary metabolism and cellular signal transduction in plants. However, their involvement in plant defense and stress responses is largely unknown. In order to better address functions of the rice 14-3-3/GF14 proteins in defense and abiotic stress responses, we examined the rice GF14 family that comprises eight numbers. The phylogenetic comparison with the Arabidopsis 14-3-3 family revealed that the majority of rice GF14s might have evolved as an independent branch. At least four rice GF14 genes, GF14b, GF14c, GF14e and Gf14f were differentially regulated in the interactions of rice-Magnaporthe grisea and rice-Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae, and the incompatible interactions stronger induced the genes than the compatible interactions. These GF14 genes were also induced by the defense compounds, benzothiadiazole, methyl jasmonate, ethephon and hydrogen peroxide. Similarly, they were differentially regulated by salinity, drought, wounding and abscisic acid. Tissue-specific analysis and expression of GF14-YFP fusions revealed that the four GF14 isoforms were expressed with tissue specificity and accumulated differentially in the cytoplasm and nucleus. Our current study provides fundamental information for the further investigation of the rice GF14 proteins.     

Rice 14-3-3 protein (GF14e) negatively affects cell death and disease resistance

Plant 14-3-3 proteins regulate important cellular processes, including plant immune responses, through protein-protein interactions with a wide range of target proteins. In rice (Oryza sativa), the GF14e gene, which encodes a 14-3-3 protein, is induced during effector-triggered immunity (ETI) associated with pathogens such as Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo). To determine whether the GF14e gene plays a direct role in resistance to disease in rice, we suppressed its expression by RNAi silencing. GF14e suppression was correlated with the appearance of a lesion-mimic (LM) phenotype in the transgenic plants at 3 weeks after sowing. This indicates inappropriate regulation of cell death, a phenotype that is frequently associated with enhanced resistance to pathogens. GF14e-silenced rice plants showed high levels of resistance to a virulent strain of Xoo compared with plants that were not silenced. Enhanced resistance was correlated with GF14e silencing prior to and after development of the LM phenotype, higher basal expression of a defense response peroxidase gene (POX22.3), and accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In addition, GF14e-silenced plants also exhibit enhanced resistance to the necrotrophic fungal pathogen Rhizoctonia solani. Together, our findings suggest that GF14e negatively affects the induction of plant defense response genes, cell death and broad-spectrum resistance in rice.     

Identification of a family of avirulence genes from Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae.

Races of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae, the causal agent of bacterial blight of rice, interact with cultivars of rice in a gene-for-gene specific manner. Multiple DNA fragments of various sizes from all strains of X. o. pv. oryzae hybridized with avrBs3, an avirulence gene from Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria, in Southern blots; this suggests the presence of several homologs and possibly a gene family. A genomic library of a race 2 strain of X. o. pv. oryzae, which is avirulent on rice cultivars carrying resistance genes xa-5, Xa-7, and Xa-10, was constructed. Six library clones, which hybridized to avrBs3, altered the interaction phenotype with rice cultivars carrying either xa-5, Xa-7, or Xa-10 when present in a virulent race 6 strain. Two avirulence genes, avrXa7 and avrXa10, which correspond to resistance genes Xa-7 and Xa-10, respectively, were identified and partially characterized from the hybridizing clones. On the basis of transposon insertion mutagenesis, sequence homology, restriction mapping, and the presence of a repeated sequence, both genes are homologs of avirulence genes from dicot xanthomonad pathogens. Two BamHI fragments that are homologous to avrBs3 and correspond to avrXa7 and avrXa10 contain a different number of copies of a 102-bp direct repeat. The DNA sequence of avrXa10 is nearly identical to avrBs3. We suggest that avrXa7 and avrXa10 are members of an avirulence gene family from xanthomonads that control the elicitation of resistance in mono- and dicotyledonous plants.     

Cloning and overexpression of antifungal barley chitinase gene in Escherichia coli

Plant chitinases are pathogenesis-related proteins, which are believed to be involved in plant defense responses to pathogen infection. In this study, chitinase gene from barley was cloned and overexpressed in Escherichia coli. Chitinase (35 kDa) was isolated and purified. Since the protein was produced as insoluble inclusion bodies, the protein was solubilized and refolded. Purified chitinase exerted broad-spectrum antifungal activity against Botrytis cinerea (blight of tobacco), Pestalotia theae (leaf spot of tea), Bipolaris oryzae (brown spot of rice), Alternaria sp. (grain discoloration of rice), Curvularia lunata (leaf spot of clover) and Rhizoctonia solani (sheath blight of rice). Due to the potential of broad-spectrum antifungal activity barley chitinase gene can be used to enhance fungal-resistance in crop plants such as rice, tobacco, tea and clover.     

Sucrose-mediated priming of plant defense responses and broad-spectrum disease resistance by overexpression of the maize pathogenesis-related PRms protein in rice plants

Expression of pathogenesis-related (PR) genes is part of the plant's natural defense response against pathogen attack. The PRms gene encodes a fungal-inducible PR protein from maize. Here, we demonstrate that expression of PRms in transgenic rice confers broad-spectrum protection against pathogens, including fungal (Magnaporthe oryzae, Fusarium verticillioides, and Helminthosporium oryzae) and bacterial (Erwinia chrysanthemi) pathogens. The PRms-mediated disease resistance in rice plants is associated with an enhanced capacity to express and activate the natural plant defense mechanisms. Thus, PRms rice plants display a basal level of expression of endogenous defense genes in the absence of the pathogen. PRms plants also exhibit stronger and quicker defense responses during pathogen infection. We also have found that sucrose accumulates at higher levels in leaves of PRms plants. Sucrose responsiveness of rice defense genes correlates with the pathogen-responsive priming of their expression in PRms rice plants. Moreover, pretreatment of rice plants with sucrose enhances resistance to M. oryzae infection. Together, these results support a sucrose-mediated priming of defense responses in PRms rice plants which results in broad-spectrum disease resistance.     

转拟南芥AtNPR1基因增强水稻对水稻白叶枯病和稻瘟病的抗性

AtNPR1基因是拟南芥系统获得抗性的一个重要调节基因,在拟南芥中过量表达AtNPR1基因能使拟南芥对细菌和真菌的抗性同时增强.为了研究在水稻中过量表达AtNPR1基因对水稻抗病性的影响,将该基因转入到广西主栽籼稻恢复系品种桂99中.经PCR验证得到了79株转基因植株,DNA斑点杂交表明ATNPR1基因已经整合到桂99染色体DNA中.Northern杂交和RT-PCR分析表明,AtNPR1基因在桂99中已经表达;同时还检测了转基因植株对水稻白叶枯病和稻瘟病的抗性,结果表明转基因植株对该两种病害的抗性均显著增强.