Yajie Wang: National Key Laboratory for Tropical Crop Breeding, Sanya Research Institute, Institute of Tropical Bioscience and Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Haikou, China.
Mengting Geng: School of Breeding and Multiplication (Sanya Institute of Breeding and Multiplication), School of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou, China.
Ranran Pan: College of Agriculture & Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Tong Zhang: School of Breeding and Multiplication (Sanya Institute of Breeding and Multiplication), School of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou, China.
Xiaohua Lu: School of Breeding and Multiplication (Sanya Institute of Breeding and Multiplication), School of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou, China.
Xinghou Zhen: School of Breeding and Multiplication (Sanya Institute of Breeding and Multiplication), School of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou, China.
Yannian Che: School of Breeding and Multiplication (Sanya Institute of Breeding and Multiplication), School of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou, China.
Ruimei Li: National Key Laboratory for Tropical Crop Breeding, Sanya Research Institute, Institute of Tropical Bioscience and Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Haikou, China.
Jiao Liu: National Key Laboratory for Tropical Crop Breeding, Sanya Research Institute, Institute of Tropical Bioscience and Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Haikou, China.
Yinhua Chen: School of Breeding and Multiplication (Sanya Institute of Breeding and Multiplication), School of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou, China. ORCID
Jianchun Guo: National Key Laboratory for Tropical Crop Breeding, Sanya Research Institute, Institute of Tropical Bioscience and Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Haikou, China.
Yuan Yao: National Key Laboratory for Tropical Crop Breeding, Sanya Research Institute, Institute of Tropical Bioscience and Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Haikou, China. ORCID
Cassava starch is a widely used raw material for industrial production and food source for people. However, cassava bacterial blight (CBB) caused by Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. manihotis (Xam) results in severe yield losses and is the most destructive bacterial disease in all worldwide cassava-growing regions. Xam11 is a highly pathogenic subspecies from China that infects the Chinese local cassava South China No. 8 (SC8) cultivar with marked symptoms. This study showed that the transcription activator-like effector TALE20 of Xam11 strain regulates the expression of disease-susceptibility gene MeSWEET10a by binding to the EBE region of the MeSWEET10a promoter in cassava cultivar SC8. CRISPR/Cas9-generated mutations of the EBE region resulted in a significant reduction in MeSWEET10a expression after infection by Xam11, correlating with reduced disease symptoms, smaller lesion sizes and decreased bacterial proliferation compared with the wild type. Importantly, the edited plants maintained normal growth, development and yield characteristics under greenhouse conditions. The results lay a research foundation for breeding resistant cassava cultivar SC8 to bacterial blight.
32460519/National Natural Science Foundation of China
322MS135/Hainan Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China
324MS021/Hainan Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China
CATASCXTD202301/Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences for Science and Technology Innovation Team of National Tropical Agricultural Science Center
