A substitution mutation in OsPELOTA confers bacterial blight resistance by activating the salicylic acid pathway

We previously reported a spotted-leaf mutant pelota（originally termed HM_（47）） in rice displaying arrested growth and enhanced resistance to multiple races of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae. Here, we report the mapbased cloning of the causal gene OsPELOTA（originally termed spl^（HM47））. We identified a single base substitution from T to A at position 556 in the coding sequence of OsPELOTA, effectively mutating phenylalanine to isoleucine at position 186 in the translated protein sequence. Both functional complementation and over-expression could rescue the spotted-leaf phenotype. OsPELOTA, a paralogue to eukaryotic release factor 1（eRF_1）, shows high sequence similarity to Drosophila Pelota and also localizes to the endoplasmic reticulum and plasma membrane.OsPELOTA is constitutively expressed in roots, leaves,sheaths, stems, and panicles. Elevated levels of salicylic acid and decreased level of jasmonate were detected in the pelota mutant. RNA-seq analysis confirmed that genes responding to salicylic acid were upregulated in the mutant. Our results indicate that the rice PELOTA protein is involved in bacterial leaf blight resistance by activating the salicylic acid metabolic pathway.

Systemic Acquired Resistance and Signal Transduction in Plant

Systemic acquired resistance (SAR), known as the broad-spectrum, inducible plant immunity, is a defense response triggered by pathogen infection. The response starts from the recognition of plant resistance (R) with the corresponding avirulence (avr) gene from the pathogen. There are some genes for convergence of signals downstream of different R/avr interacting partners into a single signaling pathway. Salicylic acid (SA) is required for the induction of SAR and involved in transducing the signal in target tissues. The SA signal is transduced through NPR1, a nuclear-localized protein that interacts with transcription factors that are involved in regulating SA-mediated gene expression. Some chemicals that mimic natural signaling compounds can also activate SAR. The application of biochemical activators to agriculture for plant protection is a novel idea for developing green chemical pesticide.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of novel farnesylthiosalicylic acid/salicylic acid hybrids as potential anti-tumor agents

A series of FTS/salicylic acid hybrids was designed and synthesized and their in vitro antitumor activities were evaluated.It was found that the anti-proliferation activities of hybrids were better than that of FTS.Compound 10 a displayed the strongest antitumor activities with IC50 values of 5.72-9.76 μmol/L and selectively inhibited tumor cell proliferation.In addition,10 a induced tumor cell apoptosis in a dosedependent manner by up-regulating the expression of Bax and caspase-3 and down-regulating Bcl-2.Our findings suggest that these novel hybrids may hold a great promise as therapeutic agents for the intervention of human cancers.

The discovery of new scaffold of plant activators：From salicylic acid to benzotriazole

Started from salicylic acid（SA） and related commercialized plant activators,based on molecular threedimensional shape and pharmacophore similarity comparison（SHAFTS）,a new lead compound benzotriazole was predicted and a series of benzotriazole derivatives were designed and synthesized.The bioassay showed that benzotriazole had high activity against a broad spectrum of diseases including fungi and oomycetes in vivo,but no activity in vitro.And the introduction of proper groups at the1＇-position and 5＇-position was beneficial to the activity.So,they had the potential to be exploited as novel plant activators.