inTerDiSCiPLinary TeaM CoMPeTiTion

Controlling plant disease by understanding fungal and rice interactions

Guo-Liang Wang, Plant Pathology David Mackey, Horticulture and Crop Science Thomas Mitchell, Plant Pathology

Plant diseases are one of the main limiting factors in crop production worldwide, causing billions of dollars in yield loss and tremendous human suffering annually. Resistant plant varieties are the most effective and economical way to control plant diseases. However, due to pathogen instability, most elite resistant cultivars are short-lived and become susceptible shortly after release. A thorough understanding of the mechanisms of plant/pathogen interactions and the hosts defensive responses to diverse pathogens is essential for developing new approaches to effectively control plant diseases and breed long-term resistant cultivars. The goal of this interdisciplinary project was to understand the molecular events in plant-fungal interactions and develop novel strategies to effectively control fungal diseases in crop plants. Rice was chosen because it is one of the worlds most important food crops and has been used as a model for molecular plant pathology studies in cereal crops. Rice blast is one of the crops most devastating diseases and occurs in virtually all rice-growing areas, causing periodic epidemics. Significant progress has been made in isolating resistance genes in rice and rice blasts avirulence genes. However, the molecular basis of the interaction between these genes is unclear. Specifically, the study aimed to confirm the interaction between the avirulence fungal gene and its interacting genes in rice cells; characterize the function of the interacting genes in the rice plants defense response to the blast fungus; and investigate the variation and recognition specificity of the avirulence gene in the natural populations of rice blast. The team found that the avirulence gene was secreted from the blast fungus to rice cells through its penetration structure and that this gene interacted with two rice genes. The avirulence gene suppressed the activity of both rice genes. In return, these genes modified the avirulence gene, leading to its degradation in rice cells. In addition to its normal activity, the gene also had a virulence function,

which interfered with the rice plants resistance level. Blast inoculations showed that silencing both interacting genes led to enhanced susceptibility to the pathogen, pointing to their role in rice resistance. To understand the association between the avirulence genes structure and its virulence, the team used sequencing analysis, which indicated that different mutations can change the genes function in the field. The preliminary data generated by this project was used to write a successful grant awarded by the National Science Foundation. This project could have broad impacts on plant disease control in rice and other cereal crops. The team identified two new targets in rice of the avirulence gene and revealed their role in the rice plants defense. Manipulating these two rice genes could contribute to the development of cultivars resistant to rice blast that can be widely applied and retain their resistance over the longer term. Developing these improved cultivars could potentially enhance the lives of the 50 percent of the worlds population that relies on rice as a nutritional, financial, and social lifeline.

Plant diseases are one of the main limiting factors in crop production worldwide.
Guo-Liang Wang

www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/seeds SEEDS: The OARDC Research Enhancement Competitive Grants Program