Identification of a Novel Semi-Dominant Spotted-Leaf Mutant with Enhanced Resistance to Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae in Rice

Many spotted-leaf mutants show enhanced disease resistance to multiple pathogen attacks; however, the mechanisms are largely unknown. Here, we reported a novel semi-dominant spotted-leaf mutant 24 (spl24) obtained from an ethyl methane sulfonate (EMS)-induced IR64 mutant bank. spl24 developed tiny brown lesions on the leaf tip and spread down gradually to the leaf base as well as the sheath at the early heading stage. The performances of major agronomic traits such as the plant height, panicle length, number of panicles/plant, and 1000-grain weight were significantly altered in spl24 when compared to the wild-type IR64. Furthermore, spl24 exhibited a premature senescing phenotype with degeneration of nuclear acids, significantly reduced soluble protein content, increased level of malonaldehyde (MDA), and lowered activities of reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging enzymes. Disease evaluation indicated that spl24 showed enhanced resistance to multiple races of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae, the causal pathogen of bacterial leaf blight in rice, with elevated expression of pathogenesis-related genes, salicylic acid (SA) signaling pathway-associated genes revealed by real-time quantitative PCR and high-throughput RNA sequencing analysis. Genetic analysis and gene mapping indicated that the lesion mimic phenotype was controlled by a novel semi-dominant nuclear gene. The mutation, tentatively termed as OsSPL24, was in a 110 kb region flanked by markers Indel-33 and Indel-12 in chromosome 11. Together, our data suggest that spl24 is a novel lesion mimic mutant with enhanced innate immunity and would facilitate the isolation and functional characterization of the target gene.