Biosynthesis of Phytoalexins and Regulatory Mechanisms of It in Rice

We performed extensive functional characterization of diterpenoid phytoalexin biosynthetic genes in rice, and found that the genes for the biosynthesis of the major diterpenoid phytoalexins, phytocassanes and momilactones, are clustered on chromosomes 2 and 4, and that their expression is coordinately induced in rice cells after elicitation. Isopentenyl diphosphate, an early precursor of diterpenoid phytoalexins, was found to be synthesized through the plastidic methylerythritol phosphate pathway. We also found that chitin elicitor receptor kinase OsCERK1 and a mitogen-activated protein kinase cascade, the OsMKK4-OsMPK6 cascade, play essential roles in the elicitor-induced production of diterpenoid phytoalexins. In addition, a basic leucine zipper transcription factor, OsTGAP1, was identified as a key regulator of the coordinated expression of the clustered genes and the methylerythritol phosphate pathway genes. Naringenin 7-O-methyltransferase (OsNOMT) was also identified as a key enzyme in the biosynthesis of another major rice phytoalexin, sakuranetin.