Enhanced resistance to rice blast and sheath blight in rice (oryza sativa L.) by expressing the oxalate decarboxylase protein Bacisubin from Bacillus subtilis

Oxalate decarboxylase (OxDC), catalyzing the degradation of oxalic acid, is widely distributed in varieties of organisms. In this study, an oxalate decarboxylase gene from Bacillus subtilis strain BS-916, Bacisubin, was transformed into rice variety Nipponbare to generate transgenic rice with increased OxDC activity. Pathogenicity test revealed that the transgenic rice showed enhanced resistance to rice blast and sheath blight. Further RNA-seq analysis between Nipponbare WT (wild type) and transgenic rice identified 1764 DEGs (Differentially expressed genes) including 723 up-regulated unigenes and 1041 down-regulated unigenes. Five GO terms including single-organism process and oxidation-reduction process were significantly enriched in the up-regulated genes. Interestingly, five genes encoding glutaredoxin and one gene encoding MADS box were up- and down-regulated in the transgenic rice, respectively. Collectively, our study advances the understanding of OxDC in resistance to rice disease and its possible mechanisms. Our results also suggest that OxDC would be an effective antifungal protein preventing fungal infection in transgenic rice.