Dr. Ricardo Oliva
Dr. Inez Hortense Slamet-Loedin

To determine whether Xoo TAL effectors can trigger defense-related genes in a set of diverse rice varieties which will facilitate identification of novel resistance genes against Xoo.

1. Access to the organism, inoculated plants, and other contaminated materials will be limited to those who will be granted permission to the restricted containment facilities in the Institute.

2. Only personnel trained to work under asceptic conditions and with sufficient knowledge of microbiological techniques and/or properly supervised personnel will be allowed to take part in the experiment.

3. Cultures of the PXO99TAL will be handled in compliance to all relevant biosafety and phytosanitary requirements of the Philippines.

4. Inoculated plants will be kept in isolation in the CL4 transgenic greenhouse to prevent access by unauthorized personnel.

5. Samples collected from the inoculated plants will be placed in sealed plastic bags and then placed in a second sturdy, leak-proof, plastic container, which will be hermetically sealed.

6. Plants and plant materials for disposal will be placed in sealed plastic bags and will be decontaminated by autoclaving and then disposed of following standard procedures prescribed by the biosafety committee.

7. All the following other materials contaminated with the pathogen will be decontaminated by autoclaving at high temperature and high pressure to kill the PXO99ATAL prior to disposal according to standard biosafety protocol. - pots and soil used to grow the uninoculated plants - culture media, diluents and buffers - syringe, gloves and non-disposable laboratory materials

8. Precautionary measures will always be observed and good laboratory practices will be stringently imposed to prevent crossover and dissemination of Xoo strain PXO99TAL.

a) All activities shall be conducted at the Genetic Transformation Laboratory and CL4 Transgenic Greenhouse of the lnternational Rice Research lnstitute (lRRl) in Los Baños, Laguna.

b) The proponent shall adhere as closely as possible to the schedule of activities reflected in the submitted Gantt chart.

c) Any modifications in the schedule of activities shall be made with the concurrence of the lRRl-IBC and the DOST-BC.

d) A biosafety contingency plan shall be submitted before the conduct of the experiment.

e) The proponent shall inform which activities would require the presence of the IRRI-IBC, DOST-BC and PEQS-BPI personnel.

f) The proponent shall ensure that only the DOST-BC authorized personnel are allowed inside the experimental facilities.

g) The DOST-BC and PEQS-BPI personnel should be informed in advance of any visitations by unauthorized persons.

h) The DOST-BC and the PEQS-BPI personnel shall be informed immediately of any intrusion by unauthorized persons.

i) The proponent shall ensure that stray animals are excluded from the experimental facilities while tests are being conducted.

j) In case of undue destruction of experimental materials resulting from unauthorized entry of personnel or breach of containment of experimental facilities, the proponent shall implement measures to prevent the inadvertent escape of any viable material within the facility.

k) The proponent and the supervising IBC shall be held accountable for the undue destruction of the experimental materials and the consequences that their inadvertent escape may cause to the surrounding environment.

l) All viable materials within the experiment area shall be accounted for.

m) The proponent shall strictly observe proper disposal procedures for all materials.

n) Movement of all materials will be done in compliance with all relevant biosafety and phytosanitary requirements of the Philippines.

o) Any additional requirement that the DOST-BC may impose, as necessary, for the duration of the experiment shall be complied with.

p) The proponent shall submit through the IBC a completion report within 90 days after completion of the experiment.

q) The IBC shall submit to the DOST-BC a report on all completion of this project, in the prescribed format.

Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae causes bacterial leaf blight disease and is considered as one of the most important biotic stresses of rice. The pathogen contains in their genome a vast suit of gene family encoding transcription activator-like (TAL) effectors that are injected into the host cells via Type III secretion system (T3SS) where specific host genes are turn on for disease or defense (Bogdanove et al., 2010; Verdier et al., 2012; Schornack et al., 2013; Streubel et al., 2013). Because Xoo TAL effector can either enhance susceptibility or trigger defense response in host plants, we can use this protein as a tool for effective gene discovery in rice. In this study, we will use Philippine strain PX099A to deliver different TAL effectors in a set of broad spectrum resistance (BSR) accession with the aim to accelerate the identification of novel resistance gene.