Transcriptome analysis of the rice response to blast fungus identified core genes involved in immunity
Dewei Yang1,2, Shengping Li1, Zichao Zheng1, Lin Lu1, Dingzhong Tang1* and Haitao Cui1*
1State Key Laboratory of Ecological Control of Fujian-Taiwan Crop Pests; Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education for Genetics, Breeding and Multiple Utilization of Crops; Plant Immunity Center, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China.
2Institute of Rice, Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Fuzhou, 350019, China
* Correspondence: Haitao Cui (cui@fafu.edu.cn) and Dingzhong Tang (dztang@genetics.ac.cn)
Funding: National Natural Science Foundation of China (31770277) (ZZ, HC), Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province (2018J01609) (ZZ, HC), the Youth Technology Innovation Team of Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences (No. STIT2017-3-3)(DY), the Special Fund for Agro-scientific Research in the Public Interest of Fujian Province (2020R11010016-3)(DY), and the startup fund for the Plant Immunity Center of Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University (DT).
Abstract: Rice blast disease caused by the filamentous Ascomycetous fungus Magnaporthe oryzae is a major threat to rice production worldwide. The mechanisms underlying rice resistance toM. oryzae , such as transcriptional reprogramming and signaling networks, remain elusive. In this study, we carried out an in-depth comparative transcriptome study on the susceptible and resistant rice cultivar in response to M. oryzae . Our analysis highlighted that a rapid, high-amplitude transcriptional reprogramming was important for rice defense against blast fungus. The ribosome- and protein translation-related genes were significantly enriched in differentially expressed genes (DEGs) at 12 hpi in both cultivars, indicating that the protein translation machinery is regulated in the activation of immunity in rice. Furthermore, we identified a core set of genes that are involved in the rice response to biotic as well as to abiotic stress. More importantly, among the core genes, we demonstrated that the metallothionein OsMT1a and OsMT1b genes positively while a peroxidase gene Perox4 negatively regulated rice resistance toM. oryzae. Our study provides novel insight into transcriptional reprogramming and a valuable resource for functional studies on rice immune signaling components in resistance to blast disease.
Keywords: Rice blast disease, immunity, transcriptome, peroxidase, Magnaporthe
Ackowledgments: We thank Prof. Zonghua Wang (Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University) for providing the M. oryzae isolate Guy11, 18SH-D527, FJ2011, 95085AZB and 18NH-16-3; We thank Dr. Wenming Wang and Xuewei Chen (Sichuan Agricultural University) for providing theM. oryzae isolate Zhong 1. We thank Dr. Dagang Tian (Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences) for providing the M. oryzaeisolates KJ201, 501-3, RB22 and 20-15.