Overexpression of Enhances Quantitative Leaf Blast and Bacterial Blight Resistance in Rice.

Although it is known that rice 14-3-3 family genes are involved in various defense responses, the functions of in response to diseases have not been reported. Here, we showed that the transcription of was significantly induced by leaf blast infection, and the overexpression of quantitatively enhanced resistance to leaf blast and bacterial blight in rice. Further analysis showed that the expression levels of salicylic acid (SA) pathway-associated genes (, , and ) in the -overexpressing plants, were higher than those in wild-type plants after inoculation with the blast isolate ( Barr). In addition, the expression level of was significantly induced after SA treatment, and higher endogenous SA levels were observed in the -overexpressing plants compared with that in wild-type plants, especially after blast challenge. Taken together, these results suggest that positively regulates leaf blast and bacterial blight resistance in rice via the SA-dependent signaling pathway.