Analysis was performed, using the delta-delta Ct method. The gene expression levels obtained by QRT-PCR were normalized, using the 16S ribosomal gene, which showed similar expression levels at different time GSK3326595 chemical structure points after infection. The gene expression level was compared between microarray and QRT-PCR. Similarly, the microarray ratio for each gene analysed was normalised against the microarray ratio obtained for 16S ribosomal gene. This allowed direct comparison between the 16S ribosomal gene-normalized QRT-PCR ratio and the 16S ribosomal gene microarray ratio for each transcript investigated.

Acknowledgements The authors thank J.Leach AR-13324 purchase (CSU) and CM.Vera Cruz (IRRI) for providing us with DNA of Xoo strains. We thank B.Piégu for his help with sequence analyses. We thank Thierry Mathieu for his help during greenhouse experiments. We are very grateful to Michèle Laudié for her help in preparing the materials for sequencing and Richard Cooke for access to the Montpellier Languedoc-Roussillon Génopole sequencing facilities. The authors thank Ralf Koebnik for his critical reading on the first draft of the manuscript and his helpful suggestions. We thank anonymous reviewers for their valuable suggestions to improve the manuscript. We thank Elizabeth McAdam for editing.

MS was supported by a doctoral fellowship awarded by Programme Alβan of the European Commission (grant E05D057941CO). Electronic supplementary material Additional file 1: Xoo strain MAI1 Cell press genes identified as differentially expressed in planta by microarray analysis. The non-redundant find more set of sequences, composed of 147 Xoo strain MAI1 genes differentially expressed during infection, was searched against the genomes of all available sequenced strains of X. oryzae (Xoo strains KACC10331, MAFF311018, and PXO99A, and Xoc strain BLS256), and against the draft genome of the African Xoo strain BAI3. Changes in gene expression across different

time points during infection are also presented. (DOC 489 KB) References 1. Nino-Liu D, Ronald P, Bogdanove A: Xanthomonas oryzae pathovars: model pathogens of a model crop. Mol Plant Pathol 2006, 7:303–324.PubMedCrossRef 2. Séré Y, Onasanya A, Verdier V, Akator K, Ouédraogo L, Segda Z, Coulibaly M, Sido A, Basso A: Rice Bacterial Leaf Blight in West Africa: Preliminary Studies on Disease in Farmers’ Fields and Screening Released Varieties for Resistance to the Bacteria. Asian Journal of Plant Sciences 2005, 4:577–579.CrossRef 3. Leach J, Rhoads M, Vera Cruz C, White F, Mew T, Leung H: Assessment of genetic diversity and population structure of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae with a repetitive DNA element. Appl Environ Microbiol 1992, 58:2188–2195.PubMed 4. Nelson R, Baraoidan M, Vera Cruz C, Yap I, Leach J, Mew T, Leung H: Relationship between phylogeny and pathotype for the bacterial blight pathogen of rice. Appl Environ Microbiol 1994, 60:3275–3283.PubMed 5.