3.1 Pi starvation in rice confers resistance to bacterial
blight
To explore the role of Pi starvation in rice during Xooinfection, 5- to 5.5-leaf-stage NIP plants were pre-grown in hydroponic
cultures containing 0 and 200 μM Pi for three days, after which the
leaves of these plants were inoculated with Xoo . Growth analysis
showed the bacterial population under Pi starvation treatment to be
significantly lower than that in the Pi-sufficient control at 9 to 15
days after inoculation (Figure 1a). At 14 days after Xooinoculation, the mean lesion lengths in Pi-sufficient plants (200 μM)
and Pi-starved plants (0 μM) were consistently 8.33 cm and 5.18 cm,
respectively (Figure 1b and c). The significant reductions in bacterial
population and mean lesion length observed in Pi-starved plants indicate
that Pi starvation could induce rice resistance to Xoo infection.