Generation and characterisation of Tn5-tagged Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae mutants that overcome Xa23-mediated resistance to bacterial blight of rice.

Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae causes bacterial blight of rice. Xa23, a bacterial blight resistance gene identified originally in wild rice, Oryza rufipogon, is dominant and resistant to all X. oryzae pv. oryzae field isolates tested. The corresponding avirulence gene avrXa23 is unknown. Here we report the generation of a random insertion mutant library of X. oryzae pv. oryzae strain PXO99 using a Tn5-derived transposon tagging system, and identification of mutant strains that are virulent on CBB23, a near-isogenic rice line containing Xa23. A total of 24,192 Tn5 inserted clones was screened on CBB23 by leaf-cutting inoculation and at least eight of them caused lesions on CBB23 comparable to those on JG30, the susceptible recurrent parent of CBB23. Polymerase chain reaction and Southern blot analysis showed that all the eight mutants, designated as P99M1, P99M2, P99M3, P99M4, P99M5, P99M6, P99M7 and P99M8, have a single Tn5-insertion in their genomes. The flanking DNA sequences of the Tn5-insertion sites were isolated by PCR-walking and sequenced. Bioinformatic analysis of the flanking sequences, by aligning them with the whole genome sequences of X. oryzae pv. oryzae strains PXO99, KACC10331 and MAFF311018 through NCBI, revealed that the Tn5-insertions disrupted genes that encode TAL effector AvrBs3/PthA, ISXo1 transposase, Type II secretion system protein-like protein or outer membrane protein, glycogen synthase, cytochrome C5 and conserved hypothetical protein. Further identification of these mutants will facilitate the molecular cloning of avirulence gene avrXa23.