SummaryAnalysis of microbial genome sequences have revealed numerous genes involved in antibiotic biosynthesis. In Pseudomonads, several gene clusters encoding non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs) were predicted to be involved in the synthesis of cyclic lipopeptide (CLP) antibiotics. Most of these predictions, however, are untested and the association between genome sequence and biological function of the predicted metabolite is lacking. Here we report the genome-based identification of previously unknown CLP gene clusters in plant pathogenic Pseudomonas syringae strains B728a and DC3000 and in plant beneficial Pseudomonas fluorescens Pf0-1 and SBW25. For P. fluorescens SBW25, a model strain in studying bacterial evolution and adaptation, the structure of the CLP with a predicted 9-amino acid peptide moiety was confirmed by chemical analyses. Mutagenesis confirmed that the three identified NRPS genes are essential for CLP synthesis in strain SBW25. CLP production was shown to play a key role in motility, biofilm formation and in activity of SBW25 against zoospores of Phytophthora infestans. This is the first time that an antimicrobial metabolite is identified from strain SBW25. The results indicate that genome mining may enable the discovery of unknown gene clusters and traits that are highly relevant in the lifestyle of plant beneficial and plant pathogenic bacteria.

Fig. 3. Growth, yield, and NUE of OsNRT2.3b, OsNRT2.3a, and H167R mutation overexpressing lines. (A) Phenotypes and transcriptional and translational expression of OsNRT2.3b-and OsNRT2.3a-overexpressing lines and Nipponbare WT. (B) Phenotypes and transcriptional and translational expression of WT and OsNRT2.3b-H167R mutant-overexpressing lines. (C) Average grain yield and NUE of OsNRT2.3b-(O), OsNRT2.3a-(a-O), and H167R-(H167R) overexpressing lines and WT in field plots. RT-PCR with the specific primers (SI Appendix, Table S10) and Western blot analyses with monoclonal antibodies were performed to identify protein expression levels. NUE = grain yield/applied N fertilizer. Values are mean ± SE (n = 3). a and b above bars indicate significant differences (P < 0.05) between the transgenic lines and WT estimated by one-way ANOVA.

Rice (Oryza sativa) is an important dietary source of both essential micronutrients and toxic trace elements for humans. The genetic basis underlying the variations in the mineral composition, the ionome, in rice remains largely unknown. Here, we describe a comprehensive study of the genetic architecture of the variation in the rice ionome performed using genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of the concentrations of 17 mineral elements in rice grain from a diverse panel of 529 accessions, each genotyped at ;6.4 million single nucleotide polymorphism loci. We identified 72 loci associated with natural ionomic variations, 32 that are common across locations and 40 that are common within a single location. We identified candidate genes for 42 loci and provide evidence for the causal nature of three genes, the sodium transporter gene Os-HKT1;5 for sodium, Os-MOLYBDATE TRANSPORTER1;1 for molybdenum, and Grain number, plant height, and heading date7 for nitrogen. Comparison of GWAS data from rice versus Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) also identified well-known as well as new candidates with potential for further characterization. Our study provides crucial insights into the genetic basis of ionomic variations in rice and serves as an important foundation for further studies on the genetic and molecular mechanisms controlling the rice ionome.

Intensive rice breeding over the past 50 y has dramatically increased productivity especially in the indica subspecies, but our knowledge of the genomic changes associated with such improvement has been limited. In this study, we analyzed low-coverage sequencing data of 1,479 rice accessions from 73 countries, including landraces and modern cultivars. We identified two major subpopulations, indica I (IndI) and indica II (IndII), in the indica subspecies, which corresponded to the two putative heterotic groups resulting from independent breeding efforts. We detected 200 regions spanning 7.8% of the rice genome that had been differentially selected between IndI and IndII, and thus referred to as breeding signatures. These regions included large numbers of known functional genes and loci associated with important agronomic traits revealed by genome-wide association studies. Grain yield was positively correlated with the number of breeding signatures in a variety, suggesting that the number of breeding signatures in a line may be useful for predicting agronomic potential and the selected loci may provide targets for rice improvement.) is one of the most important cereal crops in the world. There have been landmark achievements in rice improvement over the past 50 y, especially in the indica subspecies. A major breakthrough resulted from the independent development of a series of semidwarf varieties in China and by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the 1950s and 1960s, leading to the "green revolution" in rice. Since then, semidwarfness has been a basic characteristic for almost all modern varieties. Based on semidwarf varieties, improvement for other traits, such as abiotic stress resistance, broad-spectrum resistances to biotic stresses, and better grain quality, has also been achieved. Another major breakthrough stemmed from the exploitation of hybrid vigor in China (1), resulting in the largescale adoption of hybrid rice since the 1970s. Jointly, these breakthroughs have greatly increased rice productivity in the past several decades globally.Genomic studies in recent years have identified a large number of loci that were under selection during rice domestication (2). However, there has been very limited study to identify loci or genomic regions that have been under selection due to breeding. Next-generation sequencing technologies have enabled sequencing of a large number of rice accessions at relatively low cost, providing opportunities to inspect the genomic regions selected in the history of crop improvement. Meanwhile, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have provided an effective approach to analyze the genetic architecture of complex traits and allow identification of candidate genes for further improvement of agronomically important traits (3,4).In this study, we analyzed low-coverage sequencing data of 1,479 rice accessions, which revealed a large number of differentially selected regions associated with breeding efforts between two major subpopulations in indica. These selected regi...

Excessive cadmium (Cd) accumulation in rice poses a risk to food safety. OsHMA3 plays an important role in restricting Cd translocation from roots to shoots. A non-functional allele of OsHMA3 has been reported in some Indica rice cultivars with high Cd accumulation, but it is not known if OsHMA3 allelic variation is associated with Cd accumulation in Japonica cultivars. In this study, we identified a Japonica cultivar with consistently high Cd accumulation in shoots and grain in both field and greenhouse experiments. The cultivar possesses an OsHMA3 allele with a predicted amino acid mutation at the 380(th) position from Ser to Arg. The haplotype had no Cd transport activity when the gene was expressed in yeast, and the allele did not complement a known nonfunctional allele of OsHMA3 in F1 test. The allele is present only in temperate Japonica cultivars among diversity panels of 1483 rice cultivars. Different cultivars possessing this allele showed greatly increased root-to-shoot Cd translocation and a shift in root Cd speciation from Cd-S to Cd-O bonding determined by synchrotron X-ray absorption spectroscopy. Our study has identified a new loss-of-function allele of OsHMA3 in Japonica rice cultivars leading to high Cd accumulation in shoots and grain.