Pathogenesis-related genes in rice

Pathogenesis-related(PR) genes have been reported in almost every kind of plant. Their widespread distribution, sequence similarity and conserved functions support the view that PR genes play important roles. PR genes were originally identified in plants infected by a pathogen; however, a recent report revealed that the expression of PR genes may be elevated during aging, mechanical wounding, abiotic stress, hormone treatments and even under normal growth and development conditions. The inconsistent nomenclature and large numbers of PR genes make their functional investigation difficult. In this paper, we collected reports for rice PR genes, and listed the names, annotations, and functions of representative PR genes. We also summarized their expressions during disease resistance, abiotic stress and in transgenic PR plants. Importantly, we correlated the genes with different names in the literature on the basis of locus number and their amino acid sequences. In addition, we discussed the significance of PR genes from different perspectives.