Diagnostic kit for rice blight resistance

Abstract

© 2019, The Author(s). Blight-resistant rice lines are the most effective solution for bacterial blight, caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo). Key resistance mechanisms involve SWEET genes as susceptibility factors. Bacterial transcription activator-like (TAL) effectors bind to effector-binding elements (EBEs) in SWEET gene promoters and induce SWEET genes. EBE variants that cannot be recognized by TAL effectors abrogate induction, causing resistance. Here we describe a diagnostic kit to enable analysis of bacterial blight in the field and identification of suitable resistant lines. Specifically, we include a SWEET promoter database, RT–PCR primers for detecting SWEET induction, engineered reporter rice lines to visualize SWEET protein accumulation and knock-out rice lines to identify virulence mechanisms in bacterial isolates. We also developed CRISPR–Cas9 genome-edited Kitaake rice to evaluate the efficacy of EBE mutations in resistance, software to predict the optimal resistance gene set for a specific geographic region, and two resistant ‘mega’ rice lines that will empower farmers to plant lines that are most likely to resist rice blight.

Source or Periodical Title

Nature Biotechnology

ISSN

10870156

Page

1372-1379

Document Type

Article

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