Necessity of rice resistance to planthoppers for OsEXO70H3 regulating SAMSL excretion and lignin deposition in cell walls

The planthopper resistance gene Bph6 encodes a protein that interacts with OsEXO70E1. EXO70 forms a family of paralogues in rice. We hypothesized that the EXO70‐dependent trafficking pathway affects the excretion of resistance‐related proteins, thus impacting plant resistance to planthoppers. Here, we further explored the function of EXO70 members in rice resistance against planthoppers. We used the yeast two‐hybrid and co‐immunoprecipitation assays to identify proteins that play roles in Bph6‐mediated planthopper resistance. The functions of the identified proteins were characterized via gene transformation, plant resistance evaluation, insect performance, cell excretion observation and cell wall component analyses. We discovered that another EXO70 member, OsEXO70H3, interacted with BPH6 and functioned in cell excretion and in Bph6‐mediated planthopper resistance. We further found that OsEXO70H3 interacted with an S‐adenosylmethionine synthetase‐like protein (SAMSL) and increased the delivery of SAMSL outside the cells. The functional impairment of OsEXO70H3 and SAMSL reduced the lignin content and the planthopper resistance level of rice plants. Our results suggest that OsEXO70H3 may recruit SAMSL and help its excretion to the apoplast where it may be involved in lignin deposition in cell walls, thus contributing to rice resistance to planthoppers.