Positively Regulates Disease Resistance to in Rice.

The exocyst, an evolutionarily conserved octameric protein complex, mediates tethering of vesicles to the plasma membrane in the early stage of exocytosis. Exo70, a subunit of the exocyst complex, has been found to be involved in plant immunity. Here, we characterize the function of in rice. mainly expresses in leaf and shoot and its expression is induced by pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and rice blast fungus (). Knocking out results in significantly decreased resistance and defense responses to compared to the wild type, including more disease lesions and enhanced fungal growth, downregulated expression of pathogenesis-related (PR) genes, and decreased reactive oxygen species accumulation. In contrast, the mutant does not show any defects in growth and development. Furthermore, can interact with the receptor-like kinase OsCERK1, an essential component for chitin reception in rice. Taken together, our data demonstrate that functions as an important regulator in rice immunity.