Loss of OsHRC function confers blast resistance without yield penalty in rice

Authors: DING, YANPENG - China Agricultural University; ZHANG, FUPING - China Agricultural University; SUN, FANGYAO - China Agricultural University; LIU, JILU - China Agricultural University; ZHU, ZHENZHEN - China Agricultural University; HE, XI - China Agricultural University; Bai, Guihua; NI, ZHONGFU - China Agricultural University; SUN, QIXIN - China Agricultural University; SUN, ZHENQI - China Agricultural University

Submitted to: Plant Biotechnology Journal
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/12/2023
Publication Date: 8/1/2023
Citation: Ding, Y., Zhang, F., Sun, F., Liu, J., Zhu, Z., He, X., Bai, G., Ni, Z., Sun, Q., Sun, Z. 2023. Loss of OsHRC function confers blast resistance without yield penalty in rice. Plant Biotechnology Journal. 21(8):1516-1518. https://doi.org/10.1111/pbi.14061.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/pbi.14061

Interpretive Summary: Blast is a serious disease in rice worldwide and shares a similar infection mechanism with Fusarium head blight (FHB) in wheat. Recently, we cloned a gene (HRC) encoding a histidine-rich calcium-binding protein from wheat and demonstrated that loss-of-function of HRC provides wheat FHB resistance. We knocked out the HRC gene in rice and obtained three HRC rice mutants that had a loss-of-function mutation. All three mutants showed a significantly lower level of blast symptoms than the non-edited control after inoculating with two different pathogen strains. The results indicate that loss-of-function of OsHRC provides resistance to rice blast and demonstrate potential use of HRC in different disease systems.

Technical Abstract: Blast (Magnaporthe oryzae) is a serious disease in rice (Oryzae sativa) worldwide. Using non-race specific resistance genes is the most effective approaches to prevent quick break down of resistance in commercial cultivars by newly evolved pathogen races. Since wheat Fusarium head blight (FHB) shares a similar infection mechanism with rice blast, we explored possibility to use FHB resistance genes for blast resistance in rice. Recently, we cloned a gene (TaHRC) encoding a histidine-rich calcium-binding protein from wheat and demonstrated that loss-of-function of TaHRC provides resistance to Fusarium graminearum, a pathogen for wheat FHB. we isolated a TaHRC homolog (OsHRC) from rice and studied its function on rice blast. We conducted gene editing to knock out OsHRC in rice cultivar Zhonghua 11 and obtained three OsHRC mutants that had frameshift mutation. As expected, all the three mutants showed significantly smaller lesion sizes and less fungal biomass than the non-edited control when they were inoculated with two different pathogen strains, indicating that loss-of-function of OsHRC provides a resistance to rice blast. This study identified a new source of rice blast resistance genes and demonstrated potential use of HRC in different disease systems.