Sheath blight (ShB), caused by the necrotrophic fungus Rhizoctonia solani (R. solani), poses severe threats to global rice production. Developing a resistant variety with an ShB-resistance gene is one of most efficient and economical approaches to control the disease. Here, we identified a highly conserved chloroplast-localized stem-loop-binding protein encoding gene (OsCSP41b), which shows great potential in developing an ShB-resistant variety. OsCSP41b-knockout mutants exhibit chlorotic leaves and increased ShB susceptibility, whereas OsCSP41b-overexpressing lines (CSP41b-OE) display significantly enhanced resistance to R. solani, as well as to drought, and salinity stresses. Notably, CSP41b-OE lines present a completely comparable grain yield to the wild type (WT). Transcriptomic analyses reveal that chloroplast transcripts and photosynthesis-associated genes maintain observably elevated stability in CSP41b-OE plants versus WT plants following R. solani infection, which probably accounts for the enhanced ShB resistance of CSP41b-OE. Our findings nominate the OsCSP41b gene as a promising molecular target for developing a rice variety with stronger resistance to both R. solani and multi-abiotic stresses.

Sheath blight (SB), caused by Rhizoctonia solani Kühn, is one of the most serious rice diseases and poses a major threat to rice grain yield. Owing to the lack of major SB resistance genes and difficulties in phenotyping, progress in identifying and characterizing QTLs conferring SB resistance has greatly improved. R. solani may secrete a toxin (RS toxin) while infecting rice hosts, which is considered an important determinant of virulence. In this study, we found that the SB-resistant variety YSBR1 has a stronger tolerance to the RS toxin than the SB-susceptible variety Lemont, as reflected by the apparently longer rice radicle of YSBR1 than that of Lemont after treatment with the RS toxin. Subsequently, we verified the significant positive correlation between RS toxin sensitivity and disease susceptibility using an F2 population developed from a cross between YSBR1 and Lemont. Using this F2 population, we preliminarily mapped two new RS toxin tolerance QTLs on chromosomes 6 and 7, named Rsn2 and Rsn3, respectively. With the aid of three chromosome segment substitution lines, we further mapped Rsn2 into a 4.6 cM region and confirmed that introgression of Rsn2 also enhanced rice SB resistance. Collectively, these results are useful for further isolation of Rsn2 and elucidation of the mechanism of rice tolerance to both R. solani and its pathogenic factor, the toxin.

Sheath blight (ShB), caused by the necrotrophic fungus Rhizoctonia solani, is one of the most serious rice diseases worldwide. In this study, we successfully grafted salicylic acid (SA) onto mesoporous silica nanoparticles through an amide-bond coupling method, forming functionalized MSN-SA nanoparticles. Physicochemical characterization showed that the MSN-SA nanoparticles were spherical, with an average particle size of approximately 30 nm and an SA loading rate of around 7.21%. The assessment of ShB resistance revealed that both SA and MSN-OH treatments were capable of inducing resistance to a certain extent. When SA and MSN-OH were applied in combination, the resistance was further augmented, indicating an additive effect between them. Intriguingly, MSN-SA treatment (50% in Lemont) exhibited a higher and more durable control efficacy compared with SA + MSN-OH treatment (33%). Moreover, field experiments demonstrated that the MSN-SA was safe for rice, and under severe disease conditions, it could recover 16.7% of the yield loss, thus highlighting its substantial application value. Further transcriptome analysis and physicochemical assays suggested that MSN-SA released SA in a slow and continuous manner, thus persistently activating the immune response, and that MSN-SA integrated the effects of SA and MSN-OH, thereby enhancing the ShB resistance. Altogether, our results provide new perspectives and a novel nanomaterial-based immune elicitor for the green control of ShB.

Sheath blight (ShB), caused by necrotrophic fungus Rhizoctonia solani, is one of the most serious rice diseases worldwide. To the best of our knowledge, no genes with high potential for rice ShB resistance breeding have been previously characterized. Here we identify a ShB resistance receptor-like kinase 1 (SBRR1) gene via a genome-wide association study. The SBRR1-R elite allele, containing a 256-bp insertion in its promoter, is preferentially present in indica varieties in geographical regions with highly favorable conditions for ShB development. Introduction of SBRR1-R into a commercial japonica rice variety significantly reduces yield loss under severe ShB disease pressure. Transcription factor bHLH57 specifically binds to the 256-bp sequence and accounts for highly induced expression and stronger resistance of SBRR1-R. Localization of SBRR1 on plasma membrane, aided by SBRR1-interaction-protein 1, and phosphorylation of SBRR1 are required for SBRR1 to rapidly upregulate downstream chitinase genes for resistance. These findings offer mechanistical insights into ShB resistance hidden in natural rice varieties.

The heading date is one of the important traits in rice, which greatly affects grain yield and regional adaptability. Although the flowering pathways in rice have been extensively investigated, the genes involved in flowering remain largely unknown. Here, we report a rice lhd mutant, which showed late flowering under both long-day (LD) and short-day (SD) conditions. Through MutMap+ and linkage analysis, a deletion mutation in OsMetAP10 was inferred as the most likely candidate for lhd late flowering. OsMetAP10 encodes a methionine aminopeptidase that belongs to the peptidase_M24 subfamily III. The OsMetAP10 gene is constitutively expressed in rice and is induced by light, with a rhythmic expression pattern. OsMetAP10 knockout lines displayed late heading as the lhd mutation, while no alternations in morphology and heading were observed on OsMetAP10 overexpression lines, further confirming the mutation of OsMetAP10 as responsible for the late heading of lhd. Through RT-qPCR and transcriptome analysis, we revealed that the upregulated expression of the FT-like gene OsFLT4, a negatively flowering regulator, and the downregulation of flower development-related genes, OsMADS14, OsMADS15, and OsMADS34, played critical roles in determining the late flowering of the OsMetAP10 mutation. This study reports a new gene affecting flowering and provides a new insight into the role of OsMetAP10 in regulating rice heading.

Ethylene response factors (ERFs) are plant transcription agents that play a pivotal role in disease resistance through the ethylene signaling pathway. However, whether and how ERFs regulate resistance to sheath blight (ShB), caused by Rhizoctonia solani in rice, remains largely unknown. Here, we demonstrated that OsERF7 negatively regulates rice resistance to ShB by inhibiting phytoalexin biosynthesis. Overexpression of OsERF7 (OsERF7OE) significantly decreased ShB resistance, whereas knockout of OsERF7 (oserf7) enhanced it. Mechanistically, antioxidant enzyme activities are significantly reduced in OsERF7OE plants, but increased in oserf7 plants. Furthermore, transcriptome analysis revealed that oserf7 plants exhibited significant upregulation of pathogenesis-related (PR) and phytoalexin biosynthesis genes upon R. solani infection. Consistently, transcript levels of phytoalexin biosynthesis genes, including OsKSL7, OsKSL8, OsKOL5, and OsCPS4, were significantly elevated in oserf7 plants, but reduced in OsERF7OE plants in response to R. solani infection. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays and dual-luciferase (LUC) reporter assays further confirmed that OsERF7 directly binds to the promoters of OsKSL8, OsKOL5, and OsCPS4, thereby repressing their expression. In summary, our study revealed that OsERF7 negatively regulated rice resistance to ShB primarily by inhibiting phytoalexin biosynthesis.

Sheath blight (ShB) disease, caused by Rhizoctonia solani Kühn, is one of the most serious rice diseases. Rice breeding against ShB has been severely hindered because no major resistance genes or germplasms are available in rice. Here, we report that introduction of Gastrodia antifungal protein (GAFP) genes from Gastrodia elata B1 into rice significantly enhances resistance to rice ShB. Four GAFP genes were cloned from G. elata B1, and all displayed a strong ability to inhibit R. solani growth in plate assays. Two versions, with or without a signal peptide, for each of the four GAFP genes were introduced into XD3 and R6547 rice cultivars, and all transgenic lines displayed stronger ShB resistance than the corresponding wild-type control in both greenhouse and field conditions. Importantly, GAFP2 showed the highest ShB resistance; GAFPs with and without its signal peptide showed no significant differences in enhancing ShB resistance. We also evaluated the agronomic traits of these transgenic rice and found that ectopic expression of GAFPs in rice at appropriate levels did not affect agronomic traits other than enhancing ShB resistance. Together, these results indicate that GAFP genes, especially GAFP2, have great potential in rice breeding against ShB disease.

Sheath blight (ShB), caused by Rhizoctonia solani, is a highly destructive disease in many crops worldwide and no major resistance genes are available. Here, we identified a sbr1 (sheath blight resistance 1) rice mutant, which shows enhanced ShB resistance and maintains wildtype agronomic traits including yield, but carries an undesired stay-green phenotype. Through map-based cloning and transgenic validation, we found that an insertion disrupting the Stay-Green (OsSGR) gene is responsible for sbr1 phenotypes. Mechanistically, the sbr1/Ossgr mutants reduce the expression of most OsCKX genes, which function in cytokinin (CK) degradation, to accumulate CK leading to ShB resistance. Importantly, knockout of OsCKX7, predominantly expressed in the leaf sheath and highly induced by R. solani, significantly enhances ShB resistance without stay-green phenotype nor yield penalty, showing high application potential. Thus, our study reveals novel insights that OsSGR and cytokinin play key roles in rice-R. solani interaction and generates a valuable ShB-resistant germplasm.

Rice is one of the staple foods for the majority of the global population that depends directly or indirectly on it. The yield of this important crop is constantly challenged by various biotic stresses. Rice blast, caused by Magnaporthe oryzae (M. oryzae), is a devastating rice disease causing severe yield losses annually and threatening rice production globally. The development of a resistant variety is one of the most effective and economical approaches to control rice blast. Researchers in the past few decades have witnessed the characterization of several qualitative resistance (R) and quantitative resistance (qR) genes to blast disease as well as several avirulence (Avr) genes from the pathogen. These provide great help for either breeders to develop a resistant variety or pathologists to monitor the dynamics of pathogenic isolates, and ultimately to control the disease. Here, we summarize the current status of the isolation of R, qR and Avr genes in the rice–M. oryzae interaction system, and review the progresses and problems of these genes utilized in practice for reducing rice blast disease. Research perspectives towards better managing blast disease by developing a broad-spectrum and durable blast resistance variety and new fungicides are also discussed.

qSB12YSB, a major quantitative sheath blight resistance gene originated from rice variety YSBR1 with good breeding potential, was mapped to a 289-Kb region on chromosome 12. Sheath blight (ShB), caused by Rhizoctonia solani kühn, is one of the most serious global rice diseases. Rice resistance to ShB is a typical of quantitative trait controlled by multiple quantitative trait loci (QTLs). Many QTLs for ShB resistance have been reported while only few of them were fine-mapped. In this study, we identified a QTL on chromosome 12, in which the qSB12YSB resistant allele shows significant ShB resistance, by using 150 BC4 backcross inbred lines employing the resistant rice variety YSBR1 as the donor and the susceptible variety Lemont (LE) as the recurrent parent. We further fine-mapped qSB12YSB to a 289-kb region by generating 34 chromosomal segment substitution lines and identified a total of 18 annotated genes as the most likely candidates for qSB12YSB after analyzing resequencing and transcriptomic data. KEGG analysis suggested that qSB12YSB might activate secondary metabolites biosynthesis and ROS scavenging system to improve ShB resistance. qSB12YSB conferred significantly stable resistance in three commercial rice cultivars (NJ9108, NJ5055 and NJ44) in field trials when introduced through marker assisted selection. Under severe ShB disease conditions, qSB12YSB significantly reduced yield losses by up to 13.5

Rice blast, caused by the Magnaporthe oryzae fungus, is one of the most devastating rice diseases worldwide. Developing resistant varieties by pyramiding different blast resistance (R) genes is an effective approach to control the disease. However, due to complex interactions among R genes and crop genetic backgrounds, different R-gene combinations may have varying effects on resistance. Here, we report the identification of two core R-gene combinations that will benefit the improvement of Geng (Japonica) rice blast resistance. We first evaluated 68 Geng rice cultivars at seedling stage by challenging with 58 M. oryzae isolates. To evaluate panicle blast resistance, we inoculated 190 Geng rice cultivars at boosting stage with five groups of mixed conidial suspensions (MCSs), with each containing 5-6 isolates. More than 60% cultivars displayed moderate or lower levels of susceptibility to panicle blast against the five MCSs. Most cultivars contained two to six R genes detected by the functional markers corresponding to 18 known R genes. Through multinomial logistics regression analysis, we found that Pi-zt, Pita, Pi3/5/I, and Pikh loci contributed significantly to seedling blast resistance, and Pita, Pi3/5/i, Pia, and Pit contributed significantly to panicle blast resistance. For gene combinations, Pita+Pi3/5/i and Pita+Pia yielded more stable pyramiding effects on panicle blast resistance against all five MCSs and were designated as core R-gene combinations. Up to 51.6% Geng cultivars in the Jiangsu area contained Pita, but less than 30% harbored either Pia or Pi3/5/i, leading to less cultivars containing Pita+Pia (15.8%) or Pita+Pi3/5/i (5.8%). Only a few varieties simultaneously contained Pia and Pi3/5/i, implying the opportunity to use hybrid breeding procedures to efficiently generate varieties with either Pita+Pia or Pita+Pi3/5/i. This study provides valuable information for breeders to develop Geng rice cultivars with high resistance to blast, especially panicle blast.

Rice sheath blight (ShB) is a devastating disease that severely threatens rice production worldwide. Induction of cell death represents a key step during infection by the ShB pathogen Rhizoctonia solani. Nonetheless, the underlying mechanisms remain largely unclear. In the present study, we identified a rice transcription factor, OsERF65, that negatively regulates resistance to ShB by suppressing cell death. OsERF65 was significantly upregulated by R. solani infection in susceptible cultivar Lemont and was highly expressed in the leaf sheath. Overexpression of OsERF65 (OsERF65OE) decreased rice resistance, while the knockout mutant (oserf65) exhibited significantly increased resistance against ShB. The transcriptome assay revealed that OsERF65 repressed the expression of peroxidase genes after R. solani infection. The antioxidative enzyme activity was significantly increased in oserf65 plants but reduced in OsERF65OE plants. Consistently, hydrogen peroxide content was apparently reduced in oserf65 plants but accumulated in OsERF65OE plants. OsERF65 directly bound to the GCC box in the promoter regions of four peroxidase genes and suppressed their transcription, reducing the ability to scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS). The oserf65 mutant exhibited a slight decrease in plant height but increased grain yield. Overall, our results revealed an undocumented role of OsERF65 that acts as a crucial regulator of rice resistance to R. solani and a potential target for improving both ShB resistance and rice yield.

解析水稻热激转录因子(Heat shock factors,Hsf)家族基因响应纹枯病病菌侵染和4种植物激素处理的表达特征,可为进一步解析Hsf调控水稻纹枯病抗性与对相关逆境的响应提供重要依据.利用生物信息学方法搜索并鉴定到25个水稻Hsf基因,对其系统进化树、相关分子特征、蛋白质结构域、基因结构及顺式作用元件进行预测和分析,用荧光定量PCR法分析它们对纹枯病病菌侵染的响应特征及4种激素[茉莉酸(Jasmonic acid,JA)、水杨酸(Salicylic acid,SA)、乙烯(Ethylene,ETH)和激动素(Kinetin,KT)]处理后的表达模式,同时分析它们在水稻组织中的表达情况.结果显示,水稻Hsf蛋白总体上可划分为5组,3个OsHsf亚家族基因在进化关系上的距离较远.25个Hsf蛋白的相对分子质量大小不一,且多数蛋白质的稳定性不高,但其基因结构较为保守.这些基因可能与激素响应及光信号通路相关.有5个基因呈组成型表达,另有7个基因呈组织特异性表达.水稻Hsf基因总体上受纹枯病病菌诱导的强度较低,其中11个上调表达的基因主要集中在OsHsfA、OsHsfB亚家族,4个下调表达的基因主要集中在OsHsfC亚家族,提示Hsf基因可能在调控水稻对纹枯病抗性的功能上存在分化.4个基因(OsHsfA2a、OsHsfA3、OsHsfB2a、OsHsfB2c)强烈响应纹枯病病菌的侵染,并且在叶鞘、叶片组织中的相对表达量较高,表明这些基因可能参与调控水稻对纹枯病的抗性.多数Hsf基因能够响应4种植物激素处理,总体来说,大部分OsHsf基因在JA、SA和ETH处理下呈下调表达,仅有少数基因呈上调表达;JA处理与SA处理相比,有1个Hsf基因受诱导表达的特征相反,SA处理和ETH处理相比,有3个Hsf基因受诱导表达的特征相反,JA处理和ETH处理相比,有3个Hsf基因受诱导表达的特征相反,JA处理与SA处理相比,SA处理与ETH处理相比,JA处理与ETH处理相比,表达特征相似的基因分别有18个、16个和13个.OsHsfA2a、OsHsfA3、OsHsfB2a、OsHsfB2c等4个水稻的Hsf基因可能参与调控水稻对纹枯病的抗性,研究结果明确了水稻中Hsf基因对不同激素处理的响应特征,为进一步研究Hsf在水稻逆境响应中的功能提供了参考依据.

The plant immune response against various pathogens relies on a convoluted recognition system based on perceiving exogenous or endogenous stimuli, such as pathogen- or damage-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs or DAMPs). Extracellular self-DNA (sDNA) is an established DAMP source, but the plant intracellular signaling mechanism after sDNA perception remains largely unclear. Here, we observed that peach fruit was more resistant to the fungus Rhizopus stolonifer after sDNA perception. We identified a complete MAPK cascade (MAPKKK1, MAPKK2 and MAPK1) that functions downstream of the FLS2-BAK1 receptor complex following the perception of sDNA-derived DAMPs by means of transcriptome sequencing. The results of yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) and glutathione S-transferase (GST) pull-down assays confirmed the protein interaction of FLS2 and BAK1; meanwhile, the interaction of MAPKKK1 and MAPKK2 and its downstream interaction of MAPKK2 and MAPK1 were both exhibited following the another Y2H results. Accordingly, MAPK1 interacted with 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate oxidase (ACO1), which was directly associated with increased ethylene production and upregulation of the transcription profile of ethylene synthesis-related genes (PpSAMDC, PpACS1 and PpACO1), ethylene receptors (ETRs and ERS1), ethylene-responsive transcription factors (ERFs) and three ethylene-inducible marker genes, PLANT DEFENSIN1.2 (PDF1.2), CHITINASE (CHI) and HOOKLESS1 (HLS1). Accordingly, the overexpression of MAPK1 enhanced the disease resistance of transgenic tomato against the fungus R. stolonifer and increased ethylene biosynthesis and ethylene signaling-related gene transcription. Taken together, our data provide insight into the putative mechanism underlying the recognition of sDNA components by the FLS2-BAK1 complex and its downstream events in the transduction of ethylene signaling by the MAPK cascade to mediate local resistance in postharvest peach fruit.

皖垦粳4618是安徽皖垦种业股份有限公司和扬州大学共同选育的优质粳稻新品种,其以南粳46为母本、武育粳18号为父本,经过系谱法选育而成.2022年通过江苏省农作物品种审定委员会审定.该粳稻品种具有高产稳产、米质优、综合抗病性较好等突出优点.本文作者系统地介绍了皖垦粳4618的选育及栽培技术.

【Objective】Blast and sheath blight are two major diseases in rice,causing huge yield and quality losses.Breeding resistant varieties is the most economical and effective approach to control the two diseases.【Method】Using molecular marker assisted selection,we introduced the broad-spectrum blast resistant gene Pigm and quantitative resistance genes qSB-9 TQ ,qSB-11 HJX to sheath blight into Nanjing 9108,a japonica rice cultivar with good grain quality.Plant lines with different gene/gene combinations were obtained and the resistance phenotypes were identified as well as the main agronomic and quality traits.【Result】The inoculation results showed that Pigm introduction could increase rice resistance to seedling blast and panicle blast significantly.Both q SB-9 TQ and qSB-11 HJX could improve rice sheath blight resistance significantly.Moreover,pyramiding of the two quantitative resistance genes had an additive effect on sheath blight resistance.As for the main agronomic and quality traits,the lines with Pigm showed increased panicle length,number of grains per panicle and the lines with qSB-11 HJX showed significantly increased grain weight.Incorporating these genes exerted no significant effect on other agronomic and quality traits.【Conclusion】Pyramiding the three genes could improve blast and sheath blight resistance without apparently negative effect on agronomic and quality traits,and the pyramided rice line can be used as a new germplasm for breeding disease-resistant japonica rice varieties.

类病斑突变体(Lmms)是研究植物细胞死亡和防御反应机制的重要材料.本文对水稻类病斑突变体的最新研究进展进行了综述.在此基础上,对进一步加强类病斑突变体及其抑制突变体基因的鉴定与克隆、解析病健组织间细胞命运的精细调控机制,以及如何利用类病斑突变体开展抗逆分子设计育种进行了讨论.

Rice blast, caused by Magnaporthe oryzae (M. oryzae), is one of the most destructive diseases threatening rice production worldwide. Development of resistant cultivars using broad-spectrum resistance (R) genes with high breeding value is the most effective and economical approach to control this disease. In this study, the breeding potential of Pigm gene in geng/japonica rice breeding practice in Jiangsu province was comprehensively evaluated. Through backcross and marker-assisted selection (MAS), Pigm was introduced into two geng rice cultivars (Wuyungeng 32/WYG32 and Huageng 8/HG8). In each genetic background, five advanced backcross lines with Pigm (ABLs) and the same genotypes as the respective recurrent parent in the other 13 known R gene loci were developed. Compared with the corresponding recurrent parent, all these ABLs exhibited stronger resistance in seedling inoculation assay using 184 isolates collected from rice growing regions of the lower region of the Yangtze River. With respect to panicle blast resistance, all ABLs reached a high resistance level to blast disease in tests conducted in three consecutive years with the inoculation of seven mixed conidial suspensions collected from different regions of Jiangsu province. In natural field nursery assays, the ABLs showed significantly higher resistance than the recurrent parents. No common change on importantly morphological traits and yield-associated components was found among the ABLs, demonstrating the introduction of Pigm had no tightly linked undesirable effect on rice economically important traits and its associated grain weight reduction effect could be probably offset by others grain weight genes or at least in the background of the aforementioned two varieties. Notably, one rice line with Pigm, designated as Yangnonggeng 3091, had been authorized as a new variety in Jiangsu province in 2021, showing excellent performance on both grain yield and quality, as well as the blast resistance. Together, these results suggest that the Pigm gene has a high breeding value in developing rice varieties with durable and broad-spectrum resistance to blast disease.

The soil-borne necrotrophic fungus Rhizoctonia solani is one of destructive fungi causing severe yield losses in various important crops. However, the host defense mechanisms against the invasion of this pathogen are poorly understood. In this study, we employed an iTRAQ-based quantitative proteomic approach to investigate host proteins responsive to R. solani using the resistant rice cultivar YSBR1. As a whole, we identified 319 differentially accumulated proteins (DAPs) after inoculation of rice plants with R. solani. Functional categorization analysis indicates that these DAPs cover a broad range of functions. Notably, a substantial portion of the DAPs are involved in cell redox homeostasis, carbohydrate metabolism, and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, or belong to pathogenesis-related proteins, indicating that these processes/proteins play important roles in host defense against R. solani. Interestingly, all of the DAPs involved in photosynthesis and chlorophyll biosynthetic processes, and part of the DAPs involved in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, show reduced accumulation after R. solani infection, suggesting that R. solani probably inhibits host photosynthetic system and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis to facilitate infection and colonization. In conclusion, our results provide both valuable resources and new insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying rice and R. solani interaction.

Necrotrophic fungus Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn (R. solani) causes serious diseases in many crops worldwide, including rice and maize sheath blight (ShB). Crop resistance to the fungus is a quantitative trait and resistance mechanism remains largely unknown, severely hindering the progress on developing resistant varieties. In this study, we found that resistant variety YSBR1 has apparently stronger ability to suppress the expansion of R. solani than susceptible Lemont in both field and growth chamber conditions. Comparison of transcriptomic profiles shows that the photosynthetic system including chlorophyll biosynthesis is highly suppressed by R. solani in Lemont but weakly in YSBR1. YSBR1 shows higher chlorophyll content than that of Lemont, and inducing chlorophyll degradation by dark treatment significantly reduces its resistance. Furthermore, three rice mutants and one maize mutant that carry impaired chlorophyll biosynthesis all display enhanced susceptibility to R. solani. Overexpression of OsNYC3, a chlorophyll degradation gene apparently induced expression by R. solani infection, significantly enhanced ShB susceptibility in a high-yield ShB-susceptible variety '9522'. However, silencing its transcription apparently improves ShB resistance without compromising agronomic traits or yield in field tests. Interestingly, altering chlorophyll content does not affect rice resistance to blight and blast diseases, caused by biotrophic and hemi-biotrophic pathogens, respectively. Our study reveals that chlorophyll plays an important role in ShB resistance and suppressing chlorophyll degradation induced by R. solani infection apparently improves rice ShB resistance. This discovery provides a novel target for developing resistant crop to necrotrophic fungus R. solani.