Gene targeting by the TAL effector PthXo2 reveals cryptic resistance gene for bacterial blight of rice. (May 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhou, Junhui; Peng, Zhao; Long, Juying; Sosso, Davide; Liu, Bo; Eom, Joon‐Seob; Huang, Sheng; Liu, Sanzhen; Vera Cruz, Casiana; Frommer, Wolf B.; White, Frank F.; Yang, Bing
• Is Part Of: Plant journal. Volume 82:Number 4(2015:May)
• Page Start: 632
• Page End: 643
• Publication Date: 2015-05
• Subjects: Plant molecular biology -- Periodicals; Plant cells and tissues -- Periodicals; Botany -- Periodicals; 580
• DOI: 10.1111/tpj.12838
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0960-7412

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="tpj12838-abs-0001"> <title>Summary</title> <p>Bacterial blight of rice is caused by the γ‐proteobacterium <italic>Xanthomonas oryzae</italic> pv. <italic>oryzae, </italic> which utilizes a group of type III TAL (transcription activator‐like) effectors to induce host gene expression and condition host susceptibility. Five SWEET genes are functionally redundant to support bacterial disease, but only two were experimentally proven targets of natural TAL effectors. Here, we report the identification of the sucrose transporter gene <italic>OsSWEET13</italic> as the disease‐susceptibility gene for PthXo2 and the existence of cryptic recessive resistance to PthXo2‐dependent <italic>X. oryzae</italic> pv. <italic>oryzae</italic> due to promoter variations of <italic>OsSWEET13</italic> in <italic>japonica</italic> rice. PthXo2‐containing strains induce <italic>OsSWEET13</italic> in <italic>indica</italic> rice IR24 due to the presence of an unpredicted and undescribed effector binding site not present in the alleles in <italic>japonica</italic> rice Nipponbare and Kitaake. The specificity of effector‐associated gene induction and disease susceptibility is attributable to a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), which is also found in a polymorphic allele of <italic>OsSWEET13</italic> known as the recessive resistance gene <italic>xa25</italic> from the rice cultivar Minghui 63. The mutation of <italic>OsSWEET13</italic> with CRISPR/Cas9 technology further corroborates the requirement of <italic>OsSWEET13</italic> expression for the state of PthXo2‐dependent disease susceptibility to <italic>X. oryzae</italic> pv. <italic>oryzae</italic>. Gene profiling of a collection of 104 strains revealed <italic>OsSWEET13</italic> induction by 42 isolates of <italic>X. oryzae</italic> pv. <italic>oryzae</italic>. Heterologous expression of <italic>OsSWEET13</italic> in <italic>Nicotiana benthamiana</italic> leaf cells elevates sucrose concentrations in the apoplasm. The results corroborate a model whereby <italic>X. oryzae</italic> pv. <italic>oryzae</italic> enhances the release of sucrose from host cells in order to exploit the host resources.</p> </abstract>