He Zuhua's research group has made significant progress in the immune metabolism mechanism of broad-spectrum disease resistance in rice

cas.

Rice, as one of the world's staple crops, feeds nearly half of the world's population
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Rice blast, caused by the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae, is the most serious disease of rice and ranks first among the top ten fungal diseases of crops

Reasonable and efficient utilization and analysis of broad-spectrum and persistent disease-resistant resources of rice is the most economical, effective and environmentally friendly method to prevent and control rice blast, and it is also an important strategy to ensure the sustainable development of agriculture
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In recent years, although great progress has been made in the identification of crop disease resistance genes and the mechanism of disease resistance, little is known about the regulation of broad-spectrum and persistent disease resistance in crops

In response to the above problems, the research team has identified a new immune regulatory protein PICI1 by comprehensively utilizing experimental technology platforms such as plant pathology, proteomics, genetics, molecular and biochemical
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PICI1 was subsequently discovered to function as a new class of deubiquitinating proteases in plants

Through further analysis of the genomic data of 3000 rice varieties, it was found that the PICI1 promoter has a natural variation locus of indica-japonica differentiation, and this locus is associated with the basic resistance of rice blast, thereby providing new ideas for rice disease resistance breeding.
and target
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With the global warming, crop diseases and insect pests are more frequent outbreaks and epidemics, and the control of diseases and insect pests through the extensive use of pesticides poses a serious threat to human food safety and the ecological environment, which is one of the major problems to be solved urgently in China's agricultural production
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The discovery of the "NLR-PICI1-methionine-ethylene" chemical defense metabolic regulatory network provides a new theoretical basis and technical support for improving the broad-spectrum and durable blast resistance of rice, and is of great importance for reducing the application of pesticides and realizing green agricultural production.

Zhai Keran, postdoctoral fellow of the Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Liang Di, a doctoral student, are the co-first authors of the paper, and researcher He Zuhua is the corresponding author
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The research work has been cooperated by Academician Han Bin, Researcher Wen Qiguang and Researcher Wang Ertao of the Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Professor Guo Hongwei from Southern University of Science and Technology, Professor Zhang Lin from Yangzhou University, etc.

Paper link: https:// align="center">

Schematic diagram of NLR exerting broad-spectrum disease resistance by protecting the PICI1-methionine-ethylene pathway