Chinese Bulletin of Botany ›› 2021, Vol. 56 ›› Issue (6): 687-698.DOI: 10.11983/CBB21025

• EXPERIMENTAL COMMUNICATIONS • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Rice OsWRKY42 is a Novel Element in Xa21-mediated Resistance Pathway Against Bacterial Leaf Blight

Tianxingzi Wang, Zheng Zhu, Yue Chen, Yuqing Liu, Gaowei Yan, Shan Xu, Tong Zhang, Jinjiao Ma, Shijuan Dou, Liyun Li(), Guozhen Liu()   

  1. Hebei Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Molecular Pathology, College of Life Sciences, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding 071001, China
  • Received:2021-01-31 Accepted:2021-08-09 Online:2021-11-01 Published:2021-11-12
  • Contact: Liyun Li,Guozhen Liu

Abstract: Xa21 was the earliest resistant gene cloned in rice, which has broad-spectrum resistance to Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo). Our previous study demonstrated that, OsWRKY42 might play a role in Xa21-mediated resistance pathway. In this study, OsWRKY42-RNA interference (OsWRKY42-RNAi) transgenic rice were generated under the background of Xa21, Western blot (WB) verified transgenic plants were used to inoculate Xoo, it was found that the lesion length was longer than that resistance control 4021 (carrying Xa21 gene), indicating that the down-regulation of OsWRKY42 protein abundance impaired Xa21-mediated resistance. In OsWRKY42-RNAi transgenic rice, it was also found by WB analysis that the abundance of OsPR6, OsPR15 and OsPR16 protein were decreased, while the abundance of OsPR1A, OsPR1B, OsPR2 and OsPR10A protein were increased, implying that these pathogenesis-related proteins were regulated by OsWRKY42 and play roles in Xa21-medicated resistance to Xoo at the downstream of OsWRKY42. In conclusion, the results showed that OsWRKY42 is a novel element in Xa21-mediated resistance pathway against Xoo and enhanced our understanding for the mechanism of rice Xa21-mediated resistance.

Key words: rice, bacterial leaf blight, resistant gene Xa21, WRKY transcription factor, pathogenesis-related protein