Molecular cloning and differential expression of an aldehyde dehydrogenase gene in rice leaves in response to infection by blast fungus

Aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) superfamily is a group of enzymes metabolizing endogenous and exogenous aldehydes. Using differential display RT-PCR and cDNA library screening, a full-length aldehyde dehydrogenase cDNA (ALDH7B7) was isolated from rice leaves infected by incompatible race of blast fungus Magnaporthe grisea. The deduced amino acid sequence consists of 509 amino acid residues and shares 74∼81% identity with those of ALDH7Bs from other plants. ALDH7B7 expression was induced by blast fungus infection, ultraviolet, mechanical wound in rice leaves and was not detected in untreated rice organs. This gene has also been found to be inducible after exogenous phytohormones application, such as salicylic acid, methyl ester of jasmonic acid and abscisic acid. The function of ALDH7B7 in the interaction process between blast fungus and rice is discussed.     

稻瘟菌无毒基因研究进展

稻瘟菌是引起水稻稻瘟病的病原物。水稻与稻瘟菌间存在广泛而特异的相互作用,是研究寄主与病原物互作的重要模式系统。本文对稻瘟菌与水稻互作最重要的激发子―无毒基因的研究现状进行了概括,讨论了无毒基因的定位、克隆方法以及已克隆无毒基因的功能及进化研究,同时对今后无毒基因研究的重要方向进行了探讨,为深入理解无毒基因的功能及与水稻可能的互作关系奠定了基础。     

Perception of the chitin oligosaccharides contributes to disease resistance to blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae in rice

Chitin is a component of fungal cell walls, and its fragments act as elicitors in many plants. The plasma membrane glycoprotein CEBiP, which possesses LysM domains, is a receptor for the chitin elicitor (CE) in rice. Here, we report that the perception of CE by CEBiP contributes to disease resistance against the rice blast fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae, and that enhanced responses to CE by engineering CEBiP increase disease tolerance. Knockdown of CEBiP expression allowed increased spread of the infection hyphae. To enhance defense responses to CE, we constructed chimeric genes composed of CEBiP and Xa21, which mediate resistance to rice bacterial leaf blight. The expression of either CRXa1 or CRXa3, each of which contains the whole extracellular portion of CEBiP, the whole intracellular domain of XA21, and the transmembrane domain from either CEBiP or XA21, induced cell death accompanied by an increased production of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species after treatment with CE. Rice plants expressing the chimeric receptor exhibited necrotic lesions in response to CE and became more resistant to M. oryzae. Deletion of the first LysM domain in CRXA1 abolished these cellular responses. These results suggest that CEs are produced and recognized through the LysM domain of CEBiP during the interaction between rice and M. oryzae and imply that engineering pattern recognition receptors represents a new strategy for crop protection against fungal diseases.     

Identification of a Degradation Intermediate of the Momilactone A Rice Phytoalexin by the Rice Blast Fungus

We have already shown that major rice diterpene phytoalexin, momilactone A, was detoxified by Magnaporthe oryzae. We report here the identification by NMR, MS, and chemical synthesis of 3,6-dioxo-19-nor-9β-pimara-7,15-diene (1) as the degradation intermediate. Compound 1 exhibited similar antifungal activity to that of momilactone A, indicating 1 to be a precursor of possible detoxified compounds.     

Enhanced resistance to the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe grisea conferred by expression of a cecropin A gene in transgenic rice

Cecropins are a family of antimicrobial peptides, which constitute an important key component of the immune response in insects. Here, we demonstrate that transgenic rice (Oryza sativa L.) plants expressing the cecropin A gene from the giant silk moth Hyalophora cecropia show enhanced resistance to Magnaporthe grisea, the causal agent of the rice blast disease. Two plant codon-optimized synthetic cecropin A genes, which were designed either to retain the cecropin A peptide in the endoplasmic reticulum, the ER-CecA gene, or to secrete cecropin A to the extracellular space, the Ap-CecA gene, were prepared. Both cecropin A genes were efficiently expressed in transgenic rice. The inhibitory activity of protein extracts prepared from leaves of cecropin A-expressing plants on the in vitro growth of M. grisea indicated that the cecropin A protein produced by the transgenic rice plants was biologically active. Whereas no effect on plant phenotype was observed in ER-CecA plants, most of the rice lines expressing the Ap-CecA gene were non-fertile. Cecropin A rice plants exhibited resistance to rice blast at various levels. Transgene expression of cecropin A genes was not accompanied by an induction of pathogenesis-related (PR) gene expression supporting that the transgene product itself is directly active against the pathogen. Taken together, the results presented in this study suggest that the cecropin A gene, when designed for retention of cecropin A into the endoplasmic reticulum, could be a useful candidate for protection of rice plants against the rice blast fungus M. grisea.     

Optimization of the HyPer sensor for robust real‐time detection of hydrogen peroxide in the rice blast fungus

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and breakdown have been studied in detail in plant‐pathogenic fungi, including the rice blast fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae; however, the examination of the dynamic process of ROS production in real time has proven to be challenging. We resynthesized an existing ROS sensor, called HyPer, to exhibit optimized codon bias for fungi, specifically Neurospora crassa, and used a combination of microscopy and plate reader assays to determine whether this construct could detect changes in fungal ROS during the plant infection process. Using confocal microscopy, we were able to visualize fluctuating ROS levels during the formation of an appressorium on an artificial hydrophobic surface, as well as during infection on host leaves. Using the plate reader, we were able to ascertain measurements of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) levels in conidia as detected by the MoHyPer sensor. Overall, by the optimization of codon usage for N. crassa and related fungal genomes, the MoHyPer sensor can be used as a robust, dynamic and powerful tool to both monitor and quantify H₂O₂ dynamics in real time during important stages of the plant infection process.     

Sulfoquinovosyldiglyceride and Triglycosyldiglyceride in Rice Grains

Sulfoquinovosyldiglyceride and triglycosyldiglyceride were isolated from rice grains, mainly by column chromatography and thin-layer chromatography. The major component fatty acids were palmitic, oleic, stearic and linoleic acids in sulfoquinovosyldiglyceride whereas they were linoleic, palmitic and oleic acids in triglycosyldiglyceride, in decreasing order of amount. The component sugar in sulfoquinovosyldiglyceride was sulfoquinovose, while those in triglycosyldiglyceride were galactose and glucose, the latter being predominant.     

转基因改良水稻抗稻瘟病的策略及其进展

稻瘟病是由子囊菌引起的广泛发生在世界各水稻产区的主要真菌病害。由于病原菌致病性的高度分化,使得对稻瘟病很难控制和防治。长期实践证明,培育抗病品种是稻瘟病抗病育种的主要目标。随着基因工程的发展,利用转基因技术导入外源基因改良稻瘟病抗性已成为一条新途径。现有研究表明,通过某些抗病基因、抗真菌蛋白基因、杀菌肽基因的克隆和转育,可以培育出获得对稻瘟病广谱抗性的水稻品种(系)。     

受稻瘟病原真菌侵染的水稻早期表达基因的cDNA克隆

以亲和性与非亲和性两个稻瘟病原真菌小种（Ｍａｇｎａｐｏｒｔｈｅ ｇｒｉｓｅａ（Ｈｅｂｅｒｔ）Ｂａｒｒ）感染同一水稻品种（Ｏｒｙｚａｓａｔｉｖａ Ｌ．ｃｖ．Ｓｈｅｎｘｉａｎｇｇｅｎｇ Ｎｏ．４）的植株产生明显不同的致病和抗病反应,由此建立了有效的感染系统。应用差异显示技术获得两个在侵染早期具有诱导表达特征的ｃＤＮＡ克隆,其中一个同时在致病和抗病反应中进行早期诱导表达,但在抗病反应中的诱导相对早于其在     

Identification of a Novel Casbane-Type Diterpene Phytoalexin,ent-10-Oxodepressin,from Rice Leaves

(+)-Haedoxan A, an insecticidal sesquilignan, inhibited the specific binding of the noncompetitive GABA antagonist [³⁵S]t-butylbicyclophosphorothionate (TBPS) to rat brain membranes in concentration-dependent and noncompetitive manners. The data show haedoxan’s interaction with a site coupled to the TBPS-binding site on the GABA_A receptor in rat brain, while the physiological significance of the interaction remains to be discovered.     

Microsatellite markers for population studies of the rice blast fungus,Magnaporthe grisea

We developed nine new microsatellite markers for rice blast (Magnaporthe grisea) population studies. These markers were used in addition to nine microsatellite markers previously developed by our group for mapping purpose. Altogether, the 18 markers were used in multiplex PCR (polymerase chain reaction) to characterize six populations from different geographical origins. The average number of alleles per locus across populations ranged from 1.2 to 7 and the total number of alleles detected from 2 to 19. Based on this large range of polymorphism, this set of markers is expected to be useful for different kind of population studies at different geographical scales.     

Molecular Cloning of Early-expressed cDNAs from Rice in Response to Infection by Rice Blast Fungus Magnaporthe grisea

Compatible and incompatible reactions in rice plants (Oryza sativa L. cv. Shenxianggen No.4) were resulted from inoculation with two different virulent races of rice blast fungus (Magnaporthe grisea (Hebert) Barr), and thus an effective infecting system was established between rice plants and the rice blast pathogen. Two cDNA clones that showed induced and temporal patterns in expression in the very early stage in response to infection of the fungus were obtained from the plants by use of differential display. Of the two cDNA clones, Fastresp-a was induced to express in both compatible and incompatible interactions although it was expressed earlier in the former reaction. The second one, Fastresp-b, was only expressed in incompatible interaction. Southern blot analysis of the rice genomic DNA indicated that both of the two clones were from genome of the plant. No significant homology to the two genes was found from the rice gene database. This suggested that they were novel genes in rice and may play important roles in rice resistant response to infection of rice blast fungus.