Functional Identification Of Rice RNPR1 Gene

One rice expression vector of Gui 99 RNPRl gene, which was homologous with Arabidopsis thaliana NPR1 gene, was constructed by using plant expression vector pCAMBIA1301 as vector and ubiquitin and NOS as promoter and terminator, respectively. The Indica rice Gui 99 and Japonica rice TP309 were transformed with the RNPRl gene by Agrobacterium tumefaciens -mediated transformation. Ten Gui 99 and 113 TP309 hygromycin-resistant plants were regenerated, respectively. PCR, sequencing of the PCR products, PCR-Southern hybridization and Southern hybridization analysis of TO and T1 plants revealed that we had got 8 Gui 99 transgenic plants and 113 TP309 transgenic plants. TO plants of all 8 Gui 99 transgenic plants and 46 TP309 transgenic plants were assayed for resistance to bacterial blight of rice with leaf-clipping method. It turned out that 62.5% of Gui 99 transgenic plants and 73.91% of TP309 transgenic plants expressed significantly enhanced disease resistance to rice bacterial blight. This work confirmed that rice RNPRl gene could positively regulate the expression of rice systemic acquired resistance and this gene can be used for engineering rice for resistance to diseases.