Rice (Oryza sativa L.) blast disease caused by Magnaporthe grisea is one of the most destructive diseases in the rice-growing areas of the world. Silicon is an important nutritional element especially for rice. Two near-isogenic lines of rice with different resistance to blast disease, i.e. CO39 (susceptible) and C101LAC (Pi-1) (resistant), were selected to determine the effects of Si amendment on the severity and incidence of rice blast disease. The physiological and cytological mechanisms involved in the induced disease resistance by silicon were investigated. Exogenous Si application at a concentration of 2 mM reduced the disease index by 45% for CO39 and 56% for C101LAC (Pi-1). Si application alone did not change lignin content and the activities of defense-related enzymes including peroxidase (POD), polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) in rice leaves of both isogenic lines. However, after inoculation with M. grisea, Si-treated rice plants significantly increased the activities of POD, PPO and PAL in leaves of both isogenic lines. Si and lignin content were also significantly increased in Si-treated inoculated seedlings. Environmental scanning electron microscope observations revealed that Si amendment resulted in higher Si deposit on dumbbell bodies in the rice leaves and silicon papilla accumulation on the guard cell of stoma. These results suggest that silicon-induced defense response and cell silicification of rice leaves altogether contribute to the silicon-induced rice resistance to blast disease.
Although it is known that rice 14-3-3 family genes are involved in various defense responses, the functions of OsGF14f in response to diseases have not been reported. Here, we showed that the transcription of OsGF14f was significantly induced by leaf blast infection, and the overexpression of OsGF14f quantitatively enhanced resistance to leaf blast and bacterial blight in rice. Further analysis showed that the expression levels of salicylic acid (SA) pathway-associated genes (PAL1, NH1, PR1a and PR10) in the OsGF14f-overexpressing plants, were higher than those in wild-type plants after inoculation with the blast isolate (Magnaporthe oryzae Barr). In addition, the expression level of OsGF14f was significantly induced after SA treatment, and higher endogenous SA levels were observed in the OsGF14f-overexpressing plants compared with that in wild-type plants, especially after blast challenge. Taken together, these results suggest that OsGF14f positively regulates leaf blast and bacterial blight resistance in rice via the SA-dependent signaling pathway.
Abstract Cultivating rice varieties with robust blast resistance is the most effective and economical way to manage the rice blast disease. However, rice blast disease comprises leaf and panicle blast, which are different in terms of resistance mechanisms. While many blast resistant rice cultivars were bred using genes conferring resistance to only leaf or panicle blast, mining durable and effective quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for both panicle and leaf blast resistance is of paramount importance. In this study, we conducted a pangenome-wide association study (panGWAS) on 9 blast resistance related phenotypes using 414 international diverse rice accessions from an international rice panel. This approach led to the identification of 74 QTLs associated with rice blast resistance. One notable locus, qPBR1 , validated in a F 4:5 population and fine-mapped in a Heterogeneous Inbred Family (HIF), exhibited broad-spectrum, major and durable blast resistance throughout the growth period. Furthermore, we performed transcriptomic analysis of 3 resistant and 3 sensitive accessions at different time points after infection, revealing 3,311 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) potentially involved in blast resistance. Integration of the above results identified 6 candidate genes within the qPBR1 locus, with no significant negative effect on yield. The results of this study provide valuable germplasm resources, QTLs, blast response genes and candidate functional genes for developing rice varieties with enduring and broad-spectrum blast resistance. The qPBR1 , in particular, holds significant potential for breeding new rice varieties with comprehensive and durable resistance throughout their growth period.
Excavation of resistance genes is one of the most effective and environment-friendly measures to control the devastating rice disease caused by Magnaporthe oryzae. Many resistance genes have been mapped and characterized in the last century. Nevertheless, only a few of the total resistance genes could be really applied in the rice breeding program. Huazhan (HZ) is a new native rice restorer line developed in China and widely used in hybrid rice in recent years. HZ and its crossed combinations usually show a broad spectrum of resistance against rice blast in different rice ecosystems in China. Dissection of the genetic background of HZ is very useful for its further application. In this study, a combined method based on bulked segregation analysis (BSA) and specific length amplified fragment sequencing (SLAF-seq) was used to identify blast resistance gene(s) in HZ. A total of 56,187 SLAFs labels were captured and 9051 polymorphic SLAFs markers were analysed and procured in this study. One trait associated with candidate resistance genes region on chromosome 12 overlapping 10.2–17.6 Mb has been identified, in which 10 NBS-LRR (nucleotide-binding site-leucine-rich repeat) coding genes were used as resistance gene candidates. Our result indicated that SLAF-seq with BSA is a rapid and effective method for initial identification of blast resistance genes. The identification of resistance gene in HZ will improve its molecular breeding and resistance variety application.
Objective The role of MMP-2 in patients with ICH is controversial and the impact of plasma MMP-2 level on clinical outcome is still unclear. Materials and methods In this study, the peripheral venous blood was acquired from 93 patients with ICH and 88 healthy controls within 24 h of hospitalization and at enrollment. We retrospectively investigated plasma MMP-2 levels of patients and healthy controls. The edema volume, the NIHSS score, the GCS score, and mRS were used to assess and quantify neurological deficit following ICH. Logistic regression analysis was configured to determine the independent relation of plasma MMP-2 levels with clinical outcomes. In addition, the plasma MMP-14 levels and complement C4 level were tested to explore the relationship with plasma MMP-2 level. Results There was a significant reduction of plasma MMP-2 levels in ICH patients than that in healthy controls (38.02 ± 1.71 vs. 54.03 ± 2.15, p < 0.0001), and MMP-2 is negatively correlated with the edema volume ( r = −0.2187, p < 0.05), NIHSS score ( r = −0.2194, p < 0.05), blood leucocyte count ( r = −0.2549, p = 0.012), and complement C4 level ( r = −0.2723, p = 0.005). There is positive correlation between MMP-2 level and GCS score ( r = 0.2451, p = 0.01) and MMP-14 level ( r = 0.7013, p = 0.005). The multivariate analysis revealed that reduced plasma MMP-2 level is associated with elevated edema volume (OR = 0.2604, 95% CI [0.07 to 0.84], p = 0.02). Conclusion The plasma MMP-2 level in patients with ICH is significantly lower than that of healthy controls, and plasma MMP-2 level may be a prognostic factor. Plasma MMP-2 levels are correlated with the clinical outcomes of patients and negatively correlated with blood leucocyte count and complement C4 level in patients with ICH.
Rice with panicle-blast resistance is needed for stable rice production. Although we have previously demonstrated that OsGF14b underlies a quantitative trait locus that positively regulates rice panicle blast resistance, the mechanism is still unknown. In this study, a multi-omics approach was used to investigate the possible downstream signaling pathway regulated by OsGF14b. OsGF14b both strongly activated the gibberellin biosynthetic pathway during pathogen infection and reprogrammed the lignin biosynthetic pathway. Reduced lignin accumulation was observed in glumes of OsGF14b-overexpressing plants in comparison with the wild type after pathogen inoculation. OsGF14b activated the auxin and jasmonic acid signaling pathways, but inactivated the salicylic acid signaling pathway. Auxin and jasmonic acid appeared to act independently on OsGF14b-mediated panicle blast resistance. The roles of gibberellin, lignin, and auxin were different from their roles in leaf blast, suggesting that different mechanisms underlie leaf and panicle blast resistance in rice. This study provides a comprehensive catalog of molecular changes that could be targets for future studies of rice panicle blast resistance.