Epigenetic regulation of antagonistic receptors confers rice blast resistance with yield balance

作者：Yiwen Deng, Keran Zhai, Zhen Xie, Dongyong Yang, Xudong Zhu, Junzhong Liu, Xin Wang, Peng Qin, Yuanzhu Yang, Guomin Zhang, Qun Li, Jianfu Zhang, Shuangqing Wu, Joëlle Milazzo, Bizeng Mao, Ertao Wang, Huaan Xie, Didier Tharreau, Zuhua He · 发表于：Science · 年份：2017 · DOI：10.1126/science.aai8898 · 被引用次数：749 · 研究领域：Plant-Microbe Interactions and Immunity、Plant Gene Expression Analysis、Fungal and yeast genetics research

Widespread resistance, localized relief Rice blast fungus can devastate a rice harvest. Genes that provide resistance to the fungus usually depress rice yield. Deng et al. analyzed the molecular underpinnings of a rice variant that is resistant to rice blast but still high-yielding (see the Perspective by Wang and Valent). The key locus encodes several R (resistance) genes. One gene confers resistance and is expressed throughout the plant. Another gene fails to confer resistance and is expressed only in pollen and panicles (the rice-producing flower clusters). Because the R proteins function as dimers, heterodimerization in pollen and panicles disables resistance. The plants thus produce smaller but more numerous rice grains, which sustains yield, while the body of the plant resists fungal infection. Science , this issue p. 962 ; see also p. 906