Qing Liu, Jiao Xue, Lanlan Zhang, Liqun Jiang, and Chen Li.

Genes (Basel) 2024 Jan; 15(1): 82.

ABSTRACT

Rice blast disease, caused by the fungal pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae, is a major threat to rice production worldwide. This study investigates the role of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in rice’s response to this destructive disease, with a focus on their impacts on disease resistance and yield traits. Three specific lncRNAs coded by M. oryzae infection-responsive lncRNAs (MOIRAs), MOIRA1, MOIRA2, and MOIRA3, were identified as key regulators of rice’s response to M. oryzae infection. Strikingly, when MOIRA1 and MOIRA2 were overexpressed, they exhibited a dual function: they increased rice’s susceptibility to blast fungus, indicating a negative role in disease resistance, while simultaneously enhancing tiller numbers and single-plant yield, with no adverse effects on other yield-related traits. This unexpected improvement in productivity suggests the possibility of overcoming the traditional trade-off between disease resistance and crop yield. These findings provide a novel perspective on crop enhancement, offering a promising solution to global food security challenges by developing rice varieties that effectively balance disease resistance and increased productivity.

See https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10815219/

Figure 1: The responses of MOIRA1, MOIRA2, and MOIRA3 to leaf blast inoculation in rice. The values represent the means ± SD of three biological replicates. The asterisks indicate significant differences compared with the 0 d time point (Dunnett’s test, ** p < 0.01 and * p < 0.05).