Abstract
Rice recognizes flagellin, a main component of a bacterial flagellum, and subsequently induces immune responses, such as generation of reactive oxygen species and expression of defense-related genes. We have previously reported that rice receptor kinase, OsFLS2, is functional orthologue of Arabidopsis FLS2 which percepts flg22 peptide derived from the N-terminal region of flagellin. However, in spite of expression of OsFLS2 mRNA in rice, flg22 induced little immune response in rice. To explain this discrepancy, we made OsFLS2 overexpressed rice and analyzed the immune response to flg22. As a result, overexpression of OsFLS2 in rice caused stronger immune responses than the wild type. This result indicates that low sensitivity of rice to flg22 is attributed to low amount of OsFLS2.
