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Ectopic expression of a rice protein phosphatase 2C gene OsBIPP2C2 in tobacco improves disease resistance

  • Biotic and Abiotic Stress
  • Published:
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Abstract

Protein phosphatase 2Cs (PP2Cs) have been demonstrated to play critical roles in regulation of plant growth/development, abscisic acid signaling pathway and adaptation to environmental stresses. Here we report the cloning and molecular characterization of a novel rice protein phosphatase 2C gene, OsBIPP2C2 (Oryza sativa L. BTH-induced protein phosphatase 2C 2). OsBIPP2C2 has three alternatively spliced transcripts and the largest transcript OsBIPP2C2a encodes a 380 aa protein containing all 11 conserved catalytic subdomains of PP2Cs. Expression of OsBIPP2C2a was significantly induced by benzothiadiazole (BTH), one of defense-related signal molecules in plants. Expression of OsBIP2C2a was induced by infection with the blast fungus, Magnaporthe grisea, and the pathogen-induced expression of OsBIPP2C2a in BTH-treated rice seedlings was much earlier and stronger than those in water-treated seedlings. Overexpression of OsBIPP2C2a in transgenic tobacco plants resulted in increased disease resistance against tobacco mosaic virus and Phytophthora parasitica var. nicotianae. Importantly, the OsBIPP2C2a-overexpressing transgenic tobacco plants showed constitutive expression of defense-related genes. These results suggest that OsBIPP2C2a may play an important role in disease resistance through activation of defense response.

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Abbreviations

ABA:

Abscisic acid

BTH:

Benzothiadiazole

CaMV:

Cauliflower mosaic virus

PP2C:

Protein phosphatase 2C

TMV:

Tobacco mosaic virus

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Dr. Xueping Zhou, Institute of Biotechnology, Zhejiang University for TMV samples and Mr. Rongyao Chai (Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Science) for the Magnaporthe grisea isolate 85-14B1. This study was supported by projects from National Natural Science Foundation of China (grants no. 30771399), National 863 Project (2007AA10Z140) and the Ph.D. Programs Foundation of Ministry of Education of China (No. 20070335111).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, Department of Plant Protection, Institute of Biotechnology, Zhejiang University-Huajiachi Campus, 310029, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China

    Xuebo Hu, Huijuan Zhang, Guojun Li, Yuxia Yang, Zhong Zheng & Fengming Song

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  1. Xuebo Hu
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  2. Huijuan Zhang
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  3. Guojun Li
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  4. Yuxia Yang
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  5. Zhong Zheng
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  6. Fengming Song
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fengming Song.

Additional information

Communicated by A. Atanassov.

X. Hu and H. Zhang contributed equally to this study.

The nucleotide sequences of OsBIPP2C2a and OsBIPP2C2c have been deposited in GenBank under accession numbers of AY8313942 and AY831395, respectively.

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Hu, X., Zhang, H., Li, G. et al. Ectopic expression of a rice protein phosphatase 2C gene OsBIPP2C2 in tobacco improves disease resistance. Plant Cell Rep 28, 985–995 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-009-0701-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-009-0701-7

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