A resistance mechanism from the American heirloom rice variety Carolina Gold Select is dependent on TAL effector central repeat region composition, but not the repeat variable diresidues
S. COHEN (1), L. Triplett (2), J. Leach (1) (1) Colorado State University, U.S.A.; (2) The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, U.S.A.

Transcription activator-like (TAL) effectors are utilized by the rice bacterial pathogen Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) to activate transcription of host susceptibility genes. TAL effector-mediated resistance is frequently driven by mutations of host promoter sequences – either through alterations in the susceptibility gene promoter making it unrecognizable to a TAL effector, or the introduction of a TAL effector binding sequence to the promoter of a resistance gene. A new mechanism for TAL effector-induced resistance was identified in the American heirloom rice variety Carolina Gold Select that is able to confer resistance through recognition of TAL effectors in a mechanism independent of the TAL effector target. This resistance mechanism reduces the length of lesions caused by Xoo and restricts bacterial proliferation. Composition of the central repeat region (CRR) is important for triggering resistance. While the composition of repeat variable diresidues (RVDs) is not important, and the resistance can be triggered by TAL effectors with 3.5 repeats, the resistance depends on the composition of amino acid residues in the CRR outside of the RVDs.

Abstract Number: P17-510
Session Type: Poster