SummaryThe Arabidopsis gene RESISTANCE TO POWDERY MILDEW8.1 (RPW8.1) confers resistance to virulent fungal and oomycete pathogens that cause powdery mildew and downy mildew, respectively. However, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Here, we show that ectopic expression of RPW8.1 boosts pattern‐triggered immunity (PTI) resulting in enhanced resistance against different pathogens in both Arabidopsis and rice. In Arabidopsis, transcriptome analysis revealed that ectopic expression of RPW8.1‐YFP constitutively up‐regulates expression of many pathogen‐associated molecular pattern (PAMP‐)‐inducible genes. Consistently, upon PAMP application, the transgenic line expressing RPW8.1‐YFP exhibited more pronounced PTI responses such as callose deposition, production of reactive oxygen species, expression of defence‐related genes and hypersensitive response‐like cell death. Accordingly, the growth of a virulent bacterial pathogen was significantly inhibited in the transgenic lines expressing RPW8.1‐YFP. Conversely, impairment of the PTI signalling pathway from PAMP cognition to the immediate downstream relay of phosphorylation abolished or significantly compromised RPW8.1‐boosted PTI responses. In rice, heterologous expression of RPW8.1‐YFP also led to enhanced resistance to the blast fungus Pyricularia oryzae (syn. Magnaporthe oryzae) and the bacterial pathogen Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo). Taken together, our data suggest a surprising mechanistic connection between RPW8.1 function and PTI, and demonstrate the potential of RPW8.1 as a transgene for engineering disease resistance across wide taxonomic lineages of plants.

The screening for repellency against the booklouse, Liposcelis bostrychophila (Badonnel), and the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst), from 14 Chinese medicinal herbs showed that the essential oils of Curcuma longa L., Epimedium pubescens Maximouwicz, Lindera aggregate (Sims) Kostermans, Nardostachys chinensis Battandier, Schizonepeta tenuifolia Briquet, Zanthoxylum schinifolium Sieber et Zuccarini, and Z. officinale Roscoe exhibited strong repellency against L. bostrychophila and T. castaneum. A total of 35 components of the essential oil of E. pubescens were identified by gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Beta-Eudesmol (14.89%), alpha-pinene (13.38%), borneol (9.56%), (R)-carvone (7.89%), and menthol (7.45%) were the main components of the essential oil of E. pubescens. From the essential oil of E. pubescens, four monoterpenoids and one sesquiterpenoid were isolated by bioassay-guided fractionation. The compounds were identified alpha-pinene, borneol, menthol, carvone, and beta-eudesmol. (R) -carvone, menthol, borneol, and beta-eudesmol were strongly repellent against L. bostrychophila at concentration of 8.5 nl/cm2 after 2 h exposure whereas alpha-pinene exhibited moderate repellency. (R)-carvone exhibited stronger repellency against the booklouse than the positive control, N, N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide (DEET). Moreover, (R)-carvone also possessed stronger repellency against T. castaneum than DEET. The other four constituents, menthol, borneol, and beta-eudesmol also showed repellency against the red flour beetles but weaker than DEET at lower concentrations.