title: Enhancing blast disease resistance by overexpression of the calcium-dependent protein kinase OsCPK4 in rice.
abstract: Rice is the most important staple food for more than half of the human population, and blast disease is the most serious disease affecting global rice production. In this work, the isoform OsCPK4 of the rice calcium-dependent protein kinase family is reported as a regulator of rice immunity to blast fungal infection. It shows that overexpression of OsCPK4 gene in rice plants enhances resistance to blast disease by preventing fungal penetration. The constitutive accumulation of OsCPK4 protein prepares rice plants for a rapid and potentiated defence response, including the production of reactive oxygen species, callose deposition and defence gene expression. OsCPK4 overexpression leads also to constitutive increased content of the glycosylated salicylic acid hormone in leaves without compromising rice yield. Given that OsCPK4 overexpression was known to confer also salt and drought tolerance in rice, the results reported in this article demonstrate that OsCPK4 acts as a convergence component that positively modulates both biotic and abiotic signalling pathways. Altogether, our findings indicate that OsCPK4 is a potential molecular target to improve not only abiotic stress tolerance, but also blast disease resistance of rice crops.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG), CSIC-IRTA-UAB-UB. Edifici CRAG, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Mireia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bundó
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG), CSIC-IRTA-UAB-UB. Edifici CRAG, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: María
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Coca
mesh_terms: D017871:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D060467:Disease Resistance / Q000235:genetics*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions / Q000235:genetics; D020082:Magnaporthe / Q000502:physiology; D012275:Oryza / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics; D013312:Stress, Physiological
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins; D017871:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases
keywords: blast; calcium-dependent protein kinases; defence; productivity; resistance; rice