Development and evaluation of near-isogenic lines for brown planthopper resistance in rice cv. 9311.

Brown planthopper (BPH) is the most destructive pest of rice in Asia. To date 29 BPH resistance genes have been identified, but only a few genes are being used in breeding due to inefficient markers for marker-assisted selection (MAS) and little knowledge of the real effects of the genes. In this study we individually transferred 13 genes or QTLs (Bph14, QBph3, QBph4, Bph17, Bph15, Bph20, Bph24, Bph6, Bph3, Bph9, Bph10, Bph18 and Bph21) into cultivar 9311 by marker assisted backcross breeding (MABB). Through positive and negative selection we narrowed the segments from donors containing Bph14, Bph15, Bph6 and Bph9 to 100-400 kb. Whole-genome background selection based on a high resolution SNP array was performed to maximize reconstitution of the recurrent parent genome (RPG 99.2-99.9%). All genes reduced BPH growth and development and showed antibiotic responses in seedlings. Based on genetic effects and amino acid sequences of genes in three clusters we inferred that Bph10 and Bph21 might be identical to Bph26, whereas Bph9 and Bph18 were different. Bph15 might be same with Bph17, but QBph4, Bph20 and Bph24 might be different. We believe that these NILs will be useful in rice BPH resistance research and breeding.

A new finely mapped Oryza australiensis-derived QTL in rice confers resistance to brown planthopper.

Brown planthopper (BPH) is the most destructive pest of rice in Asia. The BPH resistance in the introgression line IR65482-17-511-5-7 (IR65482-17) is derived from the wild rice species Oryza australiensis. An F2:3 population from a cross between Zhenshan 97 (ZS97) and IR65482-17 was used to map three quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for seedling resistance and feeding rate to BPH. The loci were distributed on chromosomes 2, 4 and 12. The QTL qBph4.2 on chromosome 4 had the largest effect, and contributed 36-44% of the phenotypic variance with a LOD score of 19-29. To validate the effect of qBph4.2, two near-isogenic lines (NILs) containing the qBph4.2 locus in the backgrounds of ZS97 and 9311 were developed by marker-assisted backcrossing (MABC). BPH bioassays showed that lines homozygous for the IR65482-17 allele (NIL+) of qBph4.2 tented to have significantly higher seedling resistance to BPH than those homozygous for the ZS97 or 9311 alleles (NIL-). Resistance was associated with a lower feeding rate by the insect. qBph4.2 was delimited to a ~300 kb (0.04 cM) region flanked by markers RM261 and S1, and co-segregating with XC4-27. This study will facilitate map-based cloning and marker-assisted selection of the gene, and permits further studies of gene function and resistance mechanisms in rice: BPH interaction.

[Construction of the recQ double mutants and analysis of adversity in Deinococcus radiodurans].

As a subfamily member of SF1 superfamily, the RecO helicases are highly conserved in evolution and are required for maintaining genome stability in all organisms. Loss of RecO helicase function leads to a breakdown in the maintenance of genome integrity, in particular hyper-recombination. Named after the recQ gene of Escherichia coli, lower eukaryotic species generally only contain a single RecQ family representative; for example, Sgsl in the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and Rqhl in the fission yeast, Schizosaccharomyces pombe. There are, however, multiple members in most higher organisms, with five being present in humans. Defects in three of these human RecQ helicases give rise to defined clinical disorders associated with cancer predisposition and variable aspects of premature aging. Deinococcus radiodurans encodes two recQ genes with unusual domain: DR1289 and DR2444, whose functions, however, remain obscure currently. DR1289 contains three tandem copies of the C-terminal helicase-RNase D (HRDC) domain, instead of the single copy present in all other bacteria except Neisseria that similarly possesses three copies. DR2444 contains a HRDC domain and a domain homologous to cystathionine gamma-lyase; this is the first example of an HRDC domain that is not associated with either a helicase or a nuclease. In this study, a fusion DNA fragment carrying kanamycin resistance gene with the D. radiodurans groEL promoter, chloramphenicol resistance gene with KAT promoter was cloned by PCR amplification and reversely inserted into the recQ locus in the genome of the wild-type strain RI. Three resulting recQ-deficient strains, designated deltaDR1289, deltaDR2444 and deltarecQ (double mutation), were constructed. Results show that deltaDR1289 and delta recQ were very sensitive to ionizing radiation and H2O2, while delta DR2444 and wild strain R1 were not. The phenotype of delta DR1289 was similar to many RecQ helicase mutants. Therefore, it was presumed that DR1289 was the necessary gene in maintaining the extreme resistance to DNA damaging agents, whereas DR2444 was not. Further research based on genetic and biochemical approaches should help to gain a better understanding of the genes involved in DNA repair.

Functional analysis of helicase and three tandem HRDC domains of RecQ in Deinococcus radiodurans.

RecQ is a highly conserved helicase necessary for maintaining genome stability in all organisms. Genome comparison showed that a homologue of RecQ in Deinococcus radiodurans designated as DR1289 is a member of RecQ family with unusual domain arrangement: a helicase domain, an RecQ C-terminal domain, and surprisingly three HRDC domain repeats, whose function, however, remains obscure currently. Using an insertion deletion, we discovered that the DRRecQ mutation causes an increase in gamma radiation, hydroxyurea and mitomycine C and UV sensitivity. Using the shuttle plasmid pRADK, we complemented various domains of the D. radiodurans RecQ (DRRecQ) to the mutant in vivo. Results suggested that both the helicase and helicase-and-RNase-D-C-terminal (HRDC) domains are essential for complementing several phenotypes. The complementation and biochemical function of DRRecQ variants with different domains truncated in vitro suggested that both the helicase and three HRDC domains are necessary for RecQ functions in D. radiodurans, while three HRDC domains have a synergistic effect on the whole function. Our finding leads to the hypothesis that the RecF recombination pathway is likely a primary path of double strand break repair in this well-known radioresistant organism.