A gene cluster encoding lectin receptor kinases confers broad-spectrum and durable insect resistance in rice

• Published in: Nature biotechnology Vol. 33; no. 3; pp. 301 - 305
• Main Authors: Liu, Yuqiang, Wu, Han, Chen, Hong, Liu, Yanling, He, Jun, Kang, Haiyan, Sun, Zhiguang, Pan, Gen, Wang, Qi, Hu, Jinlong, Zhou, Feng, Zhou, Kunneng, Zheng, Xiaoming, Ren, Yulong, Chen, Liangming, Wang, Yihua, Zhao, Zhigang, Lin, Qibing, Wu, Fuqing, Zhang, Xin, Guo, Xiuping, Cheng, Xianian, Jiang, Ling, Wu, Chuanyin, Wang, Haiyang, Wan, Jianmin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Nature Publishing Group US 01.03.2015; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 38/77; 38/89; 42/44; 631/449/2661/2664; Agriculture; Animals; Bioinformatics; Biomedical Engineering/Biotechnology; Biomedicine; Biotechnology; Disease Resistance - genetics; Diseases and pests; Genes, Plant; Genetic aspects; Genetic Markers; Insect-plant relationships; Insecta - physiology; Lectins; letter; Life Sciences; Molecular Sequence Data; Multigene Family; Oryza - genetics; Oryza - parasitology; Phosphotransferases; Physical Chromosome Mapping; Physiological aspects; Plant Diseases - parasitology; Polymorphism, Genetic; Protein Kinases - genetics; Receptors, Mitogen - genetics; Rice
• ISSN: 1087-0156; 1546-1696
• DOI: 10.1038/nbt.3069

Liu et al. provide new resources for improving rice by cloning a gene cluster that enhances resistance to two species of planthoppers, which cause billions of dollars of crop loss. The brown planthopper (BPH) is the most destructive pest of rice ( Oryza sativa ) and a substantial threat to rice production, causing losses of billions of dollars annually 1 , 2 . Breeding of resistant cultivars is currently hampered by the rapid breakdown of BPH resistance 2 . Thus, there is an urgent need to identify more effective BPH-resistance genes. Here, we report molecular cloning and characterization of Bph3 , a locus in rice identified more than 30 years ago that confers resistance to BPH. We show that Bph3 is a cluster of three genes encoding plasma membrane–localized lectin receptor kinases (OsLecRK1-OsLecRK3). Introgression of Bph3 into susceptible rice varieties by transgenic or marker-assisted selection strategies significantly enhanced resistance to both the BPH and the white back planthopper. Our results suggest that these lectin receptor kinase genes function together to confer broad-spectrum and durable insect resistance and provide a resource for molecular breeding of insect-resistant rice cultivars.