Boris Szurek

Pyramiding four genes governing bacterial blight resistance in three popular rice varieties of East Africa and Madagascar

The paper uses marker-assisted breeding to pyramid four resistance genes into three East African rice varieties to confer resistance to bacterial blight strains.

Rice bacterial blight resistance in Burkina Faso through genome editing: Evaluating pathogen and agro-morphological compatibility of genome-edited elite rice varieties

This study evaluates genome-edited rice varieties for resistance to bacterial blight in Burkina Faso, finding no growth penalties and resistance to local strains.

Two domesticated species of rice shaped the population structure of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae in Africa

The paper traces the evolutionary history of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae in Africa, showing its adaptation to African rice and how the introduction of Asian rice shaped its population structure.

From lab to field: analyses of genome-edited bacterial blight resistant rice

The paper evaluates genome-edited rice lines resistant to bacterial blight, showing no performance defects and absence of foreign DNA in offspring.

Comparative transcriptomics reveal a highly polymorphic Xanthomonas HrpG virulence regulon

This study uses transcriptomics to compare the HrpG regulon across 17 Xanthomonas strains, revealing diverse gene regulation beyond the T3SS and T3Es.

An atypical class of non-coding small RNAs produced in rice leaves upon bacterial infection

The paper identifies a novel class of sRNAs in rice induced by bacterial infection, which may play a role in plant-microbe interactions.