Identification of TAL and iTAL effectors in Japanese strain T7133 of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae

Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) possesses transcription activator-like (TAL) effectors, which are important virulence factors for bacterial blight disease. Rice nucleotide-binding leucine rich repeats receptor Xa1 recognizes TAL effectors, then induces various immune responses. To overcome host defenses, Xoo has developed TAL effector variants, termed interfering TAL (iTAL) (or truncated TAL) effectors. Japanese Xoo strain T7133 overcomes Xa1-mediated immunity. In this study, we determined the whole genome sequence of Xoo T7133 and identified TAL and iTAL effectors, revealing commonalities and differences in the TAL effectors between Xoo T7133 and avirulent strain T7174. In addition, Xoo T7133 has a different type of iTAL effector from Xoo T7174, suggesting that the iTAL effector of Xoo T7133 may contribute to the suppression of Xa1-mediated immunity.