Enhancing disease resistances of Super Hybrid Rice with four antifungal genes.

A plant expression vector harboring four antifungal genes was delivered into the embryogenic calli of '9311', an indica restorer line of Super Hybrid Rice, via modified biolistic particle bombardment. Southern blot analysis indicated that in the regenerated hygromycin-resistant plants, all the four antifungal genes, including RCH10, RAC22, beta-Glu and B-RIP, were integrated into the genome of '9311', co-transmitted altogether with the marker gene hpt in a Mendelian pattern. Some transgenic R1 and R2 progenies, with all transgenes displaying a normal expression level in the Northern blot analysis, showed high resistance to Magnaporthe grisea when tested in the typical blast nurseries located in Yanxi and Sanya respectively. Furthermore, transgenic F1 plants, resulting from a cross of R2 homozygous lines with high resistance to rice blast with the non-transgenic male sterile line Peiai 64S, showed not only high resistance to M. grisea but also enhanced resistance to rice false smut (a disease caused by Ustilaginoidea virens) and rice kernel smut (another disease caused by Tilletia barclayana).