Oryza meyeriana is a wild species of rice with high resistance to Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo), but the detailed resistance mechanism is unclear. Ribulose-1, 5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) activase (RCA) is an important enzyme that regulates photosynthesis by activating Rubisco. We have previously reported that Xoo infection induced the relocation of RCA from the chloroplast stroma to the thylakoid membrane in O. meyeriana, but the underlying regulating mechanism and physiological significance of this association remains unknown. In this study, "H2O2 burst" with rapid and large increase in the amount of H2O2 was found to be induced by Xoo invasion in the leaves of O. meyeriana. 3, 3-diaminobenzidine (DAB) and oxidative 2, 7-Dichlorodi-hydrofluorescein diacetate (H2DCFDA) staining experiments both showed that H2O2 was generated in the chloroplast of O. meyeriana, and that this H2O2 generation as well as Xoo resistance of the wild rice were dramatically dependent on light. H2O2, methyl viologen with light, and the xanthine-xanthine oxidase system all induced RCA to associate with the thylakoid membrane in vitro, which showed that H2O2 could induce the relocation of RCA. In vitro experiments also showed that H2O2 induced changes in both the RCA and thylakoid membrane that were required for them to associate and that this association only occurred in O. meyeriana and not in the susceptible cultivated rice. These results suggest that the association of RCA with the thylakoid membrane helps to protect the thylakoid membrane against oxidative damage from H2O2. Therefore, in addition to its universal function of activating Rubisco, RCA appears to play a novel role in the resistance of O. meyeriana to Xoo.
Keywords: H2O2; Oryza meyeriana; Rubisco activase; Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae; chloroplast stoma; thylakoid membrane.