Silencing Osa-miR827 via CRISPR/Cas9 protects rice against the blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short, non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. In plants, miRNAs participate in diverse developmental processes and adaptive responses to biotic and abiotic stress. MiR827 has long been recognized to be involved in plant responses to phosphate starvation.

A novel Transposable element-derived microRNA participates in plant immunity to rice blast disease.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that direct post-transcriptional gene silencing in plant development and stress responses through cleavage or translational repression of target mRNAs. Here, we report the identification and functional characterization of a new member of the miR812 family in rice (named as miR812w) involved in disease resistance. miR812w is present in cultivated Oryza species, both japonica and indica subspecies, and wild rice species within the Oryza genus, but not in dicotyledonous species.

Constitutive Overexpression of Leads to an Increase in Arbuscule Density in .

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis is a mutually beneficial association of plants and fungi of the subphylum Glomeromycotina. Endosymbiotic AM fungi colonize the inner cortical cells of the roots, where they form branched hyphae called arbuscules that function in nutrient exchange with the plant. To support arbuscule development and subsequent bidirectional nutrient exchange, the root cortical cells undergo substantial transcriptional reprogramming.

Phosphate excess increases susceptibility to pathogen infection in rice.

Phosphorus (P) is an essential nutrient for plant growth and productivity. Due to soil fixation, however, phosphorus availability in soil is rarely sufficient to sustain high crop yields. The overuse of fertilizers to circumvent the limited bioavailability of phosphate (Pi) has led to a scenario of excessive soil P in agricultural soils.

Concatemerization increases the inhibitory activity of short, cell-penetrating, cationic and tryptophan-rich antifungal peptides.

There are short cationic and tryptophan-rich antifungal peptides such as the hexapeptide PAF26 (RKKWFW) that have selective toxicity and cell penetration properties against fungal cells. This study demonstrates that concatemeric peptides with tandem repeats of the heptapeptide PAF54 (which is an elongated PAF26 sequence) show increased fungistatic and bacteriostatic activities while maintaining the absence of hemolytic activity of the monomer. The increase in antimicrobial activity of the double-repeated PAF sequences (diPAFs), compared to the nonrepeated PAF, was higher (4-8-fold) than that seen for the triple-repeated sequences (triPAFs) versus the diPAFs (2-fold).

The arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis promotes the systemic induction of regulatory defence-related genes in rice leaves and confers resistance to pathogen infection.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbioses are mutualistic associations between soil fungi and most vascular plants. Their association benefits the host plant by improving nutrition, mainly phosphorus nutrition, and by providing increased capability to cope with adverse conditions. In this study, we investigated the transcriptional changes triggered in rice leaves as a result of AM symbiosis, focusing on the relevance of the plant defence response.

A rice calcium-dependent protein kinase is expressed in cortical root cells during the presymbiotic phase of the arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis.

Background: The arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis consists of a mutualistic relationship between soil fungi and roots of most plant species. This association provides the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus with sugars while the fungus improves the uptake of water and mineral nutrients in the host plant. Then, the establishment of the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis requires the fine tuning of host gene expression for recognition and accommodation of the fungal symbiont.

New insights into the signaling pathways controlling defense gene expression in rice roots during the arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis.

Mycorrhizal fungi form a mutualistic relationship with the roots of most plant species. This association provides the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungus with sugars while the fungus improves the uptake of water and mineral nutrients in the host plant. Moreover, the induction of defence gene expression in mycorrhizal roots has been described.

Activation of basal defense mechanisms of rice plants by Glomus intraradices does not affect the arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis.

• Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi establish symbiotic associations with a wide range of plant species. AM fungi must then have the ability to suppress, neutralize or evade the plant defense response. We investigated the physiological and molecular responses of rice to inoculation with the AM fungus Glomus intraradices, focusing on the relevance of the plant defense response during the symbiotic mycorrhizal interaction.

The Medicago truncatula lysin [corrected] motif-receptor-like kinase gene family includes NFP and new nodule-expressed genes.

Rhizobial Nod factors are key symbiotic signals responsible for starting the nodulation process in host legume plants. Of the six Medicago truncatula genes controlling a Nod factor signaling pathway, Nod Factor Perception (NFP) was reported as a candidate Nod factor receptor gene. Here, we provide further evidence for this by showing that NFP is a lysin [corrected] motif (LysM)-receptor-like kinase (RLK).