OsWD40-193 negatively regulated resistance to Hirschmanniella mucronata in Oryza sativa

Background Rice is an important food crop in the world, but its yield and quality are severely affected by Hirschmanniella mucronata . No rice variety has shown relatively complete resistance to the nematode so far, therefore research of rice resistance mechanisms to nematode is of great significance. We previously identified a WD40 family protein OsWD40-193, which negatively regulated rice resistance to H. mucronata , and ABF95813 was identified as a candidate protein interacted with OsWD40-193, while regulatory mechanism of OsWD40-193 remained poorly understood. Results In this study, yeast two-hybrid, bimolecular fluorescence complementation, GST pull down and nematode inoculation assays revealed that OsWD40-193 interacted with ABF95813, negatively regulated rice resistance to H. mucronata like OsWD40-193. Further transcriptomic analysis showed that overexpression of OsWD40-193 and ABF95813 altered the expression of genes association with jasmonic acid signaling pathways to enhance rice susceptibility. Furthermore, transcription factor OsDERF1 was confirmed to directly bind the OsWD40-193 promoter by yeast one-hybrid and dual-luciferase reporter assays. Further experiment showed that the absence of OsDERF1 increased rice susceptibility to H. mucronata . Conclusion Overall, OsWD40-193 negatively regulated rice resistance to H. mucronata by JA signaling pathway, and OsDERF1 specifically bound the OsWD40-193 promoter to repress its expression, and thereby enhancing rice resistance to H. mucronata. These findings contributed to a deeper understanding of the regulatory mechanism of OsWD40-193 in suppressing rice resistance to H. mucronata and provided a theoretical basis for disease-resistant breeding.