Analysis of Nod factor receptor proteins in Rice

in this work, initially we ectopically expressed the legume Nod factor receptor genes (NFRP genes – MtNFP, MtLYK3 and LjLNP) in rice and assessed their impact on NF perception and consequently-triggered biological processes in roots. RNA-seq transcriptomic analysis revealed that the ectopic expression of the legume NFRPs in roots suppressed diverse genes associated with plant pathogen interaction and other defense response pathways including the ones involved in secondary metabolism. Overall, results the study indicate that (1) rice (control) plants have inherent ability to perceive NFs, and the perception of NFs resulted in suppression of a significant number of genes involved in innate immune response in roots; (2) Ectopic expression of NFRPs primed root hairs to respond to NFs; and (3) Expression of NFRPs made rice roots hypersensitive to NFs, as they triggered massive up-regulation of diverse defense response and secondary metabolism genes. RNA-seq was performed with RNA samples isolated from the root samples of RMh and PhL plants subjected to with and without NF treatment, such as (A) RMh untreated, (B) RMh treated with NFs, (C) PhL untreated and (D) PhL treated with NFs, and DEGs were compared: C vs A, B vs A and D vs C