Epigenetic control refers to the inheritable regulation of gene transcription without altering the primary DNA sequences. Recently, the emerging role of epigenetic regulation as plant warrior in disease resistance has been widely accepted. Bacterial blight (BB) caused by Xoo (Xanthomonas oryzae pv. Oryzae) infection is one of the most devastating diseases for rice production. Discovery of novel BB resistant epigenetic genes is believed to be an important mean to obtain sustainable BB resistance in rice breeding.

Previous study found that JMJ705, a member of JmjCs encoding histone demethylase, is a positive regulator of rice in response to BB. However, the function of other rice JmjCs remains to be explored. In Dec 2015, a research conducted by scientists from CNRRI reported the critical roles of another JmjCs, JMJ704, in BB resistance. As introduced by the first author Dr. Yuxuan Hou, JMJ704 is a potential demethylase of activating histone modification H3K4me2/3. By specifically removing the activating markers on BB susceptible genes, JMJ704 reduced the rice susceptibility to Xoo, thus to keep the plants healthy under the pathogen infection. This research uncovered a novel regulation mechanism of JMJ704 distinct from that of its homolog JMJ705, in which JMJ705 enhances plant resistance by reducing the suppressing marker on BB defensive genes, suggesting an interesting dual pathway of JmjCs in orchestrating rice BB resistance. “We are testing the BB resistance effects of this gene in other local varieties, hopefully we can apply JMJ704 in our future rice breeding programs”, said Dr. Zhang Jian and Dr. Huang Shiwen, the co-correspondence author of this BMC Plant Biology paper. ASTIP of CAAS was acknowledged for funding supports to this research.

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