LMM5.1 and LMM5.4, two eukaryotic translation elongation factor 1A-like gene family members, negatively affect cell death and disease resistance in rice

Lesion mimic mutant (LMM) genes, stimulating lesion formation in the absence of pathogens, play significant roles in immune response. In this study, we characterized a rice lesion mimic mutant, lmm5, which displayed light-dependent spontaneous lesions. Additionally, lmm5 plants exhibited enhanced resistance to all of the tested races of Magnaporthe oryzae and Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) by increasing the expression of defense-related genes and the accumulation of hydrogen peroxide. Genetic analysis showed that the lesion mimic phenotype of lmm5 was controlled by two genes, lmm5.1 and lmm5.4, which were isolated with a map-based cloning strategy. Remarkably, LMM5.1 and LMM5.4 share a 97.4% amino acid sequence identity, and they each encode a eukaryotic translation elongation factor 1A (eEF1A)-like protein. Besides, LMM5.1 and LMM5.4 were expressed in a tissue-specific and an indica-specific manner, respectively. In addition, high-throughput mRNA sequencing analysis confirmed that the basal immunity was constitutively activated in the lmm5 mutant. Taken together, these results suggest that the homologous eEF1A-like genes, LMM5.1 and LMM5.4, negatively affect cell death and disease resistance in rice.