Epigenetic regulation of antagonistic receptors confers rice blast resistance with yield balance

• Autores: Yiwen Deng, Keran Zhai
• Localización: Science, ISSN 0036-8075, Vol. 355, Nº 6328, 2017, págs. 962-965
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Crop breeding aims to balance disease resistance with yield; however, single resistance (R) genes can lead to resistance breakdown, and R gene pyramiding may affect growth fitness. Here we report that the rice Pigm locus contains a cluster of genes encoding nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NLR) receptors that confer durable resistance to the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae without yield penalty. Among these NLR receptors, PigmR confers broad-spectrum resistance, whereas PigmS competitively attenuates PigmR homodimerization to suppress resistance. PigmS expression, and thus PigmR-mediated resistance, are subjected to tight epigenetic regulation. PigmS increases seed production to counteract the yield cost induced by PigmR. Therefore, our study reveals a mechanism balancing high disease resistance and yield through epigenetic regulation of paired antagonistic NLR receptors, providing a tool to develop elite crop varieties.