An NLR-TF immune module under asymmetric selection shapes rice immunity and yield.

Artificial selection of functional genes shapes crops agronomic traits including disease resistance and reproductive development. Recently, Lin et al. (2026) reported that rice nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat receptor (NLR) XA48 and its associated transcription factors (TFs) OsVOZ1/2 underwent differential artificial selection upon infection by diverse Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) strains. This asymmetric selection has shaped rice resistance to Xoo and grain yield, uncovering a novel NLR-TF immune module (XA48-VOZs). Here, we discuss the molecular mechanisms of this module, the evolutionary implication of its differential selection, and its potential application, particularly in combination with the pattern-recognition receptor (PRR) XA21 for breeding rice varieties with broad-spectrum resistance to bacterial leaf blight (BLB).