Overlap between Signaling Pathways Responsive to Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae Infection and Drought Stress in Rice Introgression Line Revealed by RNA-Seq

Abstract

Rice bacterial blight, caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo), and drought stress are common reducers of rice yields in some regions of Asia and Africa. The rice introgression line H471 exhibits broad-spectrum dual resistance to Xoo and drought tolerance. To obtain a deeper understanding of crosstalk between signaling pathways in response to Xoo infection and drought stress, whole-genome transcriptome analyses of H471 and its recurrent parent Huang-Hua-Zhan (HHZ) were performed. A set of significant KEGG pathways involved in dual stress resistance were inferred by comparing H471 and HHZ samples under Xoo infection and drought stress using the gene set enrichment analysis method. We detected 178 genes that were differentially expressed in H471 common in response to the dual stresses when compared with HHZ, including genes for signaling perception and transduction, transcription regulation, and stress response. Putative common co-regulatory networks were constructed using 39 of the differentially expressed genes from the three different functional groups. These results will be a valuable source of information for further investigations on crosstalk between signaling pathways responsive to Xoo infection and drought stress in rice.