Impact of rice GENERAL REGULATORY FACTOR14h (GF14h) on low-temperature seed germination and its application to breeding.

Direct seeding is employed to circumvent the labor-intensive process of rice (Oryza sativa) transplantation, but this approach requires varieties with vigorous low-temperature germination (LTG) when sown in cold climates. To investigate the genetic basis of LTG, we identified the quantitative trait locus (QTL) qLTG11 from rice variety Arroz da Terra, which shows rapid seed germination at lower temperatures, using QTL-seq. We delineated the candidate region to a 52-kb interval containing GENERAL REGULATORY FACTOR14h (GF14h) gene, which is expressed during seed germination.

Disentangling the complex gene interaction networks between rice and the blast fungus identifies a new pathogen effector.

Studies focused solely on single organisms can fail to identify the networks underlying host-pathogen gene-for-gene interactions. Here, we integrate genetic analyses of rice (Oryza sativa, host) and rice blast fungus (Magnaporthe oryzae, pathogen) and uncover a new pathogen recognition specificity of the rice nucleotide-binding domain and leucine-rich repeat protein (NLR) immune receptor Pik, which mediates resistance to M. oryzae expressing the avirulence effector gene AVR-Pik.

Isolation of Pikps, an allele of Pik, from the aus rice cultivar Shoni.

Blast disease caused by the filamentous fungus Pyricularia oryzae (syn. Magnaporthe oryzae) is one of the most destructive diseases of rice (Oryza sativa L.) around the globe.

Rice apoplastic CBM1-interacting protein counters blast pathogen invasion by binding conserved carbohydrate binding module 1 motif of fungal proteins.

When infecting plants, fungal pathogens secrete cell wall-degrading enzymes (CWDEs) that break down cellulose and hemicellulose, the primary components of plant cell walls. Some fungal CWDEs contain a unique domain, named the carbohydrate binding module (CBM), that facilitates their access to polysaccharides. However, little is known about how plants counteract pathogen degradation of their cell walls.

A genetically linked pair of NLR immune receptors shows contrasting patterns of evolution.

Throughout their evolution, plant nucleotide-binding leucine-rich-repeat receptors (NLRs) have acquired widely divergent unconventional integrated domains that enhance their ability to detect pathogen effectors. However, the functional dynamics that drive the evolution of NLRs with integrated domains (NLR-IDs) remain poorly understood. Here, we reconstructed the evolutionary history of an NLR locus prone to unconventional domain integration and experimentally tested hypotheses about the evolution of NLR-IDs.

Rice Exo70 interacts with a fungal effector, AVR-Pii, and is required for AVR-Pii-triggered immunity.

Vesicle trafficking including the exocytosis pathway is intimately associated with host immunity against pathogens. However, we still have insufficient knowledge about how it contributes to immunity, and how pathogen factors affect it. In this study, we explore host factors that interact with the Magnaporthe oryzae effector AVR-Pii.

The rice (Oryza sativa L.) LESION MIMIC RESEMBLING, which encodes an AAA-type ATPase, is implicated in defense response.

Lesion mimic mutants (LMMs) provide a useful tool to study defense-related programmed cell death (PCD) in plants. Although a number of LMMs have been identified in multiple species, most of the candidate genes are yet to be isolated. Here, we report the identification and characterization of a novel rice (Oryza sativa L.

MutMap+: genetic mapping and mutant identification without crossing in rice.

Advances in genome sequencing technologies have enabled researchers and breeders to rapidly associate phenotypic variation to genome sequence differences. We recently took advantage of next-generation sequencing technology to develop MutMap, a method that allows rapid identification of causal nucleotide changes of rice mutants by whole genome resequencing of pooled DNA of mutant F2 progeny derived from crosses made between candidate mutants and the parental line. Here we describe MutMap+, a versatile extension of MutMap, that identifies causal mutations by comparing SNP frequencies of bulked DNA of mutant and wild-type progeny of M3 generation derived from selfing of an M2 heterozygous individual.