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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stuttgart, Arkansas » Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #390078
Research Project: Gene Discovery and Crop Design for Current and New Rice Management Practices and Market Opportunities

Location: Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center

Title: A gain-of-function of a candidate Pita-2 gene in rice (Oryza sativa cv. Nipponbare) for resistance against blast fungus (Magnaporthe oryzae)

Author
item MUTETHIA, REGHAN - University Of Arkansas At Pine Bluff
item Jia, Yulin
item PONNIAH, SATHISH - University Of Arkansas At Pine Bluff

Submitted to: Plant and Animal Genome Conference
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/23/2021
Publication Date: 1/12/2022
Citation: Mutethia, R., Jia, Y., Ponniah, S.K. 2022. A gain-of-function of a candidate Pita-2 gene in rice (Oryza sativa cv. Nipponbare) for resistance against blast fungus (Magnaporthe oryzae). Plant and Animal Genome 29 Conference. San Diego, California. January 8-12, 2022.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Blast disease is caused by the filamentous fungus Magnaporthe oryzae, which is responsible for a 30% reduction of rice production globally. Once the rice is attacked by this fungus, receptors on the cell surface recognize the pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMP), and in response produces PAMP triggered immunity (PTI). PTI is weak, hence the fungus produces the effectors to break resistance response. However, plants recognize the effector protein from the fungus and trigger another plant immunity (ETI). ETI is a highly specialized disease resistance response against blast fungus and is mediated by the resistance (R) genes. A candidate for R gene (LOC_Os12g18374) named Pita-2 was identified on the rice chromosome 12. The objective of the study was to overexpress the candidate Pita-2 gene in the rice cultivar Nipponbare at the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The rice calli developed from seeds were infected with Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain EHA105 containing the Pita-2 gene. Hygromycin (50 mg/mL) was used as a selection marker to select transgenic calli with the Pita-2 gene. A total of 101 hygromycin-resistant calli were obtained with a transformation efficiency of 17.8%. Ten T0 plants were confirmed with gene-specific and hygromycin primers. The presence of the Pita-2 gene in T1 plants will later be determined. Disease reactions of the confirmed T1 plants will be evaluated with blast fungus (race IB-49). Further research will look into the role of Pita-2 (LOC_Os12g18374) for rice blast disease resistance.