AUTHOR=Liang Dong , Qi Zhongqiang , Du Yan , Yu Junjie , Yu Mina , Zhang Rongsheng , Cao Huijuan , Pan Xiayan , Qiao Junqing , Song Tianqiao , Liu Youzhou , Chen Zhiyi , Liu Yongfeng 

TITLE=Identification of Differentially Expressed Genes Reveal Conserved Mechanisms in the Rice-Magnaporthe oryzae Interaction

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2022.723356

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2022.723356

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Magnaporthe oryzae</italic> causes rice blast disease and is responsible for major losses in rice production worldwide. Although numerous studies have focused on the interactions between <italic>Oryza sativa</italic> and <italic>M. oryzae</italic>, to date, the conserved mechanisms remain in part unclear. In this study, a comparative analysis of transcriptomes of <italic>O. sativa</italic> L. ssp. <italic>japonica</italic> cv. ‘Nipponbare’ interacting with three <italic>M. oryzae</italic> strains (248, 235, and 163) were performed to explore the conserved molecular mechanisms. Differentially expressed genes with similar expression patterns in the interactions between cultivar ‘Nipponbare’ and three <italic>M. oryzae</italic> strains were defined as Conserved Differentially Expressed Genes (CDEGs). These included 3,647 <italic>O. sativa</italic> CDEGs and 3,655 <italic>M. oryzae</italic> CDEGs. Four rice CDEGs (<italic>LOC_Os03g19270</italic>, <italic>LOC_Os07g36600</italic>, <italic>LOC_Os05g28740</italic>, and <italic>LOC_Os01g32780</italic>) encoding universal stress protein (USP) were induced within 24 h post-inoculation (hpi) by three <italic>M. oryzae</italic> strains. Meanwhile, overexpression of <italic>LOC_Os07g36600</italic> resulted in enhanced rice resistance against <italic>M. oryzae</italic>. Furthermore, four rice genes coding light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b-binding (LHC) protein (<italic>LOC_Os02g52650</italic>, <italic>LOC_Os09g12540</italic>, <italic>LOC_Os11g13850</italic>, <italic>LOC_Os05g22730</italic>) were also identified as CDEGs and were induced at 48 hpi, which might contribute to blast resistance through reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation. <italic>MoCDIP4</italic> is <italic>M. oryzae</italic> effector inducing rice cell death and were verified that include AA9 CAZy domain (namely GH61 domain). In this study, we found seven <italic>MoCDIP4-</italic>homologous genes coding proteins with signal peptides and AA9 CAZy domains, which were continuously up-regulated across all infection stages relative to uninoculated control. This study uncovered that genes are required for conserved mechanisms of rice-<italic>M. oryzae</italic> interaction, which includes rice genes encoding USP proteins and LHC proteins, as well as <italic>M. oryzae</italic> genes encoding AA9 proteins. This study will help us to understand how <italic>O. sativa</italic> responds to <italic>M. oryzae</italic> infections and the molecular mechanisms of <italic>M. oryzae</italic> pathogenicity.</p>