Genome-wide association mapping of gene loci affecting disease resistance in the rice-Fusarium fujikuroi pathosystem

Background Rice bakanae disease has emerged as a new threat to rice production. In recent years, an increase in the occurrence and severity of bakanae disease has been reported in several areas in Asia. Although bakanae disease affects rice yield and quality, little is known about the genetics of bakanae resistance in rice. The lack of large-scale screens for bakanae resistance in rice germplasm has also limited the development and deployment of resistant varieties. Results A genome-wide association study (GWAS) was conducted to identify genes/loci conferring bakanae resistance in rice. A total of 231 diverse accessions from Rice Diversity Panel 1 (RDP1) were inoculated with a highly virulent Taiwanese Fusarium fujikuroi isolate and assessed for resistance using two parameters: (1) disease severity index based on visual rating and (2) colonization rate determined by reisolation of F. fujikuroi from the basal stems of infected rice seedlings. We identified 14 quantitative trait loci (QTLs) (10 for disease severity and 4 for colonization rate), including 1 mapped for both parameters. A total of 206 candidate genes were identified within the 14 QTLs, including genes encoding leucine-rich repeat (LRR)-containing and NB-ARC (nucleotide-binding adaptor shared by APAF-1, R proteins, and CED-4) proteins, hormone-related genes, transcription factor genes, ubiquitination-related genes, and oxidase/oxidoreductase genes. In addition, a candidate QTL ( qBK1.7 ) that co-localized with the previously identified QTLs qBK1 and qFfR1 , was verified by linkage analysis using a population of 132 recombinant inbred lines derived from IR64 x Nipponbare. GWAS delineated qBK1.7 to a region of 8239 bp containing three genes. Full-length sequencing across qBK1.7 in 20 rice accessions revealed that the coding regions of two LRR-containing genes Os01g0601625 and Os01g0601675 may be associated with bakanae resistance. Conclusions This study facilitates the exploitation of bakanae resistance resources in RDP1. The information on the resistance performance of 231 rice accessions and 14 candidate QTLs will aid efforts to breed resistance to bakanae and uncover resistance mechanisms. Quantification of the level of F. fujikuroi colonization in addition to the conventional rating of visual symptoms offers new insights into the genetics of bakanae resistance.