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Are the Dominant and Recessive Plant Disease Resistance Genes Similar?: A Case Study of Rice R Genes and Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae Races
Zhi-Kang Lia, Alma Sancheza, E. Angelesa, Sukhwider Singh1,b, Jessica Domingoa, Ning Huang1,a, and Gurdev S. Khushaa International Rice Research Institute, Metro Manila 1301, Philippines and
b Biotechnology Center, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana 141004, India
Corresponding author: Gurdev S. Khush, International Rice Research Institute, DAPO Box 7777, Metro Manila 1301, Philippines., g.khush{at}cgiar.org (E-mail)
Communicating editor: B. S. GILL
| ABSTRACT |
|---|
The resistance of rice to its bacterial blight pathogen Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) has both qualitative and quantitative components that were investigated using three near-isogenic line sets for four resistance (R) genes (Xa4, xa5, xa13, and Xa21) and 12 Xoo races. Our results indicate that these two resistance components of rice plants were associated with the properties of the R genes. The qualitative component of the R genes was reflected by their large effects against corresponding avirulent Xoo races. The quantitative component of the R genes was their residual effects against corresponding virulent races and their epistatic effects, which together could lead to high-level resistance in a race-specific manner. Our results revealed important differences between the different types of R genes. Two R genes, Xa4 and Xa21, showed complete dominance against the avirulent Xoo races and had large residual effects against virulent ones. They acted independently and cumulatively, suggesting they are involved in different pathways of the rice defensive system. The third R gene, xa5, showed partial dominance or additivity to the avirulent Xoo races and had relatively small but significant residual effects against the virulent races. In contrast, xa13 was completely recessive, had no residual effects against the virulent races, and showed more pronounced race specificity. There was a strong interaction leading to increased resistance between xa13 and xa5 and between either of them and Xa4 or Xa21, suggesting their regulatory roles in the rice defensive pathway(s). Our results indicated that high-level and durable resistance to Xoo should be more efficiently achieved by pyramiding different types of R genes.
PLANT disease resistance is often controlled by Mendelian genes and follows a gene-for-gene relationship in many plant species and their pathogens (![]()
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Recent advances in DNA marker technology and genomic research have provided powerful tools for addressing many questions about genetics of interactions between plants and their pathogens. Large numbers of R genes in several plant species have been accurately mapped to their corresponding genomic locations (![]()
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Rice (Oryza sativa L.) and its bacterial blight (BB) pathogen Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) present an excellent opportunity for addressing many of the above questions. Resistance in rice to Xoo is known to have both qualitative and quantitative components (![]()
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In this study, we address the questions mentioned above on the basis of quantitative analyses of responses of three isogenic line sets carrying three and four R genes and gene combinations to 12 Xoo races from the Philippines and India.
| MATERIALS AND METHODS |
|---|
Plant materials:
Three sets of rice NILs carrying genes for resistance to BB were used in the study (Table 1). The first set included 16 NILs carrying four R genes (Xa4, xa5, xa13, and Xa21) in all possible combinations in the IR24 (indica) genetic background and four F1's between IR24 and their single-gene NILs. The single-R-gene IR24 NILs were developed by more than six to seven generations of backcrossing plus phenotypic selection and these lines are phenotypically identical except for their reactions to the differential Xoo races (![]()
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Bacterial blight inoculation and evaluation:
The three sets of NILs were evaluated separately for their resistance to six Philippine Xoo races in the screenhouse during 1995 and 1997 at International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), as described previously (![]()
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109 cells/ml. For the susceptible check (IR24), a total of 24 plants (12 plants of two plots) in each replication were inoculated. The lesion lengths of the inoculated leaves were measured 18 days after inoculation. In experiment 2, the partial set of the IR24 NILs and the two NPT NIL sets containing three BB resistance genes (xa5, xa13, and Xa21) and their combinations were planted in two-row plots in the screenhouse with three replications for each of the plots in the 19971998 dry season. Nine leaves of 3 different plants (three leaves/plant) in each of the NILs were clip inoculated with the same six Xoo races at the maximum tillering stage. Three plots of the susceptible parents (IR24, NPT2, and NPT3) in each replication were inoculated as checks. Inoculum was prepared by suspending the bacterial mass in sterile water to a concentration of
109 cells/ml. Lesion length was measured on each of the inoculated leaves 18 days after inoculation. In experiment 3, the IR24 NILs containing xa5, xa13, Xa21 and their combinations were evaluated in the greenhouse of Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana (Northern India) in 1997 with six representative Xoo isolates of Punjab (Table 2). Four plants per NIL were grown in pots and the three youngest fully expanded leaves on each of the plants were clip inoculated the same way as above. The preparation of the inoculum was done in the same way except that lesion length was measured on each of the inoculated leaves 16 days after inoculation.
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Data analyses:
Loge-transformed lesion length data were used for analyses. ANOVA was performed to partition variance components of each of the experiments due to (1) NIL genotype, (2) Xoo races, (3) NIL x race interaction, (4) season, etc., using SAS GLM. Pairwise t-tests were performed for all possible comparisons between different NILs for lesion length differences. The effects, measured as loge-transformed lesion length (LL), of individual BB resistance genes were estimated as deviations due to substitution of the susceptible allele by the resistant one at each of the resistance loci against the six Xoo races in different NIL genotypes. Standard t-tests were performed to determine if the estimated gene effects were equal to zero. The epistatic effects between two, three, and four resistance genes were estimated from the mean values of the loge-transformed lesion length measurements of the NILs on the basis of the genetic expectations formulated by ![]()
| RESULTS |
|---|
Table 2 shows that in experiment 1, 68.3% of the total variation for lesion length was due to differences among the 16 IR24 NILs. Of this variance component, 8.0% was due to differences among the 4 one-gene NILs, 10.9% to differences among the 6 two-gene NILs, and only 2.9% to differences among the 4 three-gene NILs. There was a general pattern regarding the resistance levels of the NILs, i.e., the four-gene NIL
three-gene NILs
two-gene NILs
one-gene NILs
IR24. The differences among the Xoo races and NIL x race interaction explained 8.3 and 16.2% of the total variation, respectively. Interestingly, the one-gene and two-gene NILs showed greater interactions with race as compared with the other NILs. The residual including differences between seasons, season x NILs, and season x race, etc. accounted for only 7.1% of the total variation.
Table 3 shows that in experiment 2 the among-NIL variation explained 66.7, 75.2, and 57.3% of the total variances in the IR24, NPT2, and NPT3 NIL sets, respectively. The maximum difference was detected between one-gene NILs and the susceptible parents (IR24, NPT2, and NPT3). Differences between one-gene and two-gene NILs and between two-gene and three-gene NILs were less pronounced. Variances due to interactions between NILs and Xoo races accounted for 14.3, 12.2, and 20.1% of the total variation for the IR24, NPT2, and NPT3 NIL sets, respectively. The variation between the Xoo races explained only 2.5, 1.6, and 4.4% of the total variation, respectively. A similar pattern was observed for IR24 NILs against six Indian Xoo races in experiment 3 in which >85% of total variation was due to differences among the NILs and the NIL x race interactions.
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Table 4 shows the main effects of the R genes against the 12 Xoo races in the IR24 genetic background. Xa4 was effective against Philippine Xoo races 1 and 5 with a mean effect of -1.24. It also showed a strong residual effect (-0.66, -0.67, and -0.69) against the virulent Philippine Xoo races 2, 3, and 4 and a weak effect (-0.20) against race 6. Xa21 conferred resistance against all 6 Philippine and 5 of the 6 Indian Xoo races. Its effect was consistent against all Philippine races but varied considerably against the Indian races. It had a large residual effect of -0.47 against the only virulent Indian race, PXO4. On the other hand, xa5 conferred resistance to Philippine races 1, 2, 3, and 5 and the Indian race PXO1. It conferred moderate resistance to Indian races PXO13 and PXO17 and had relatively small but consistent residual effects (-0.22 and -0.25) against Philippine races 4 and 6 and Indian races 4, 6, and 8. However, the F1 plants between IR24 and its xa5 NIL indicated that xa5 showed partial dominance to Philippine races 1 and 3 but additivity to races 2 and 5 (data not shown). The only recessive gene, xa13, was effective only to Philippine race 6 and Indian race PXO8 and had a small insignificant mean residual effect of -0.06 against the 10 virulent Xoo races (Table 2).
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Table 5 and Table 6 show the epistatic effects between or among the R genes estimated in the IR24 and NPT genetic backgrounds. Two types of interactions were recognized: one leading to reduced lesion length and the other to increased lesion length. Highly significant negative epistatic effects (for increased resistance) were detected only between the recessive R genes (xa5 and xa13) or between a dominant R gene and a recessive one and occurred more often against their common virulent races. For example, together, xa5 and xa13 conferred a high level of resistance to three of their common virulent Xoo races (Indian races PXO4, PXO6, and Philippine race 4). Similarly, when in pair, xa13/Xa4 and xa5/Xa4 resulted in a high level of resistance against their common virulent Xoo race (Philippine race 4), and so did xa5/Xa21 and xa13/Xa21 against Indian race PXO4. In contrast, the positive epistatic effects for increased lesion length were detected almost exclusively in the incompatible cases where at least one of the interacting R genes was resistant to the involved Xoo races (Table 3 and Table 5). It should be pointed out that because of data transformation these significant effects did not reflect the true interactions between the R genes but rather they indicated that, when challenged against avirulent races, these R genes acted in an additive manner.
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ANOVA (Table 2 and Table 3) also indicated that variances in lesion length among the different susceptible recurrent parents of the NILs, variation in aggressiveness among the Xoo races, and the parent x race interactions were highly significant. The three components explained 17.8, 11.4, and 8.3% of the total variation, respectively. On average, NPT2 had longer lesions than NPT3 and IR24 (Table 7). The Philippine Xoo races 5 and 6 were most aggressive and apparently adapted well to japonica (NPT2 and 3) and less so to the indica type (Table 7).
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The NIL genetic backgrounds had significant impacts on the estimated main and epistatic effects of the R genes. In the incompatible cases, xa13 had a consistent effect against race 6 in all three genetic backgrounds. However, Xa21 and xa5 had greater effects in the indica genetic background (IR24) than in the japonica ones (NPT2 and 3), and so did xa5 regarding its residual effects in the compatible cases (Table 7). Similarly, highly significant epistatic effects between xa13 and Xa21 leading to increased resistance against Philippine race 4, and that between xa5 and Xa21 against Philippine race 6, were detected only in the NPT genetic backgrounds but not in the IR24 NILs (Table 5). The epistatic effect of xa5 and xa13 leading to resistance against race 4 was much greater in IR24 and NPT2 genetic backgrounds than in NPT3.
| DISCUSSION |
|---|
The resistance of rice plants to Xoo measured by leaf-clipping inoculation should refer strictly to inhibition of pathogen growth, which has been known to have both qualitative and quantitative components. Our results indicated that the two components of rice resistance to Xoo are associated with the properties of all the R genes studied. The qualitative component of the R genes was reflected by their large effects against the corresponding avirulent Xoo races. While these R genes appeared to follow the gene-for-gene theory, as reported previously (![]()
The quantitative component of the R genes (Xa4, xa5, and xa13) appeared to have two elements, the main effects and epistatic effects. In the compatible cases, the main effects of the R genes were reflected as their residual effects against virulent races. ![]()
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The second quantitative feature of the R genes was their synergistic effects. In our study, we found that a high level of resistance against common virulent pathogen races resulted frequently from the defeated gene pairs such as xa13/xa5, xa13/Xa4, xa13/Xa21, xa5/Xa4, and xa5/Xa21. This has been referred to as "quantitative complementation" (![]()
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Although it has been well known that most plant R genes are dominant, the presence of recessive ones has been recognized in many plant and pathogen relationships. In this respect, the rice-Xoo relationship is unique in that 6 out of the 20 R genes are recessive (![]()
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50% of that against avirulent races), the partially dominant xa5 had a smaller but significant residual effect (
25% of that against avirulent races), and the recessive gene xa13 had no residual effect and showed more pronounced race specificity. Second, epistasis leading to increased resistance occurred exclusively between xa5 and xa13 or between these two genes and a dominant one.
These results suggest some important differences among the R genes. For instance, the fact that the two dominant R genes act independently and additively implies that they might function in different pathways of the rice defensive system. Their larger residual effects against the virulent pathogen races suggest a more complex structure of these dominant R genes. This is consistent with the recent findings that most dominant plant R genes (including Xa21 and Xa1) represent complex gene families, each consisting of several member genes of potentially different functions (![]()
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Our results reveal several genetic aspects of the rice-Xoo interactions. First, the reaction of a plant to a race of its pathogen reflects the outcome of the interactions between alleles at all avirulence loci in the pathogen and alleles at all R loci of the plant, even if there is a one-to-one relationship between each of the interacting R-avirulence gene pairs. Also, the reaction is determined by the rate in which the plant defensive responses are triggered through interactions between alleles at plant R loci and alleles at the corresponding avirulence loci in the pathogen. The faster the response rate is, the more likely a resistant phenotype is to arise. Thus, it was not surprising that more pronounced genotype (rice) x race (Xoo) interactions were observed at digenic or trigenic levels than that at the monogenic level in the present study. Second, the observation that all dominant R genes had residual effects against their corresponding virulent races indicated that suppression of individual R genes by their corresponding virulent genes in the pathogen may or may not be complete, at least in the cases of rice-Xoo interaction. In other words, the quantitative resistance, which resulted partially from the residual effects of major R genes and partially from epistasis between defeated R genes, is not strictly nonrace specific. Finally, the significant effects of the NIL genetic backgrounds on the estimated main and epistatic effects of the R genes could be attributed to the differences between the IR24 and NPT NILs. IR24 is highly susceptible to all Xoo races, and all single R-gene NILs were developed by more than nine generations of backcrossing, while the NILs with R-gene pyramids were developed by crossing the single R-gene NILs and marker-aided selection (![]()
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| FOOTNOTES |
|---|
1 Present address: Applied Phytologics Inc., Sacramento, CA 95834. ![]()
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
|---|
We are grateful for valuable comments from Dr. N. V. Cruz and two anonymous reviewers. Financial support from the Rockefeller Foundation and from BMZ, Government of Germany is greatly appreciated.
Manuscript received December 6, 2000; Accepted for publication July 2, 2001.
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