Data for: Genome editing of an African elite rice variety confers resistance against endemic and emerging Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae strains

<p class="MsoNormal"><span>Bacterial leaf blight (BB) of rice, caused by <em>Xanthomonas oryzae </em>pv<em>. oryzae</em> (<em>Xoo</em>), threatens global food security and the livelihood of small-scale rice producers.<em> </em>Analyses of <em>Xoo</em> collections from Asia, Africa and the Americas demonstrated complete continental segregation, despite robust global rice trade. Here, we report unprecedented BB outbreaks in Tanzania. The causative strains, unlike endemic African <em>Xoo</em>, carry Asian-type TAL effectors targeting the sucrose transporter <em>SWEET11a</em> and iTALes suppressing <em>Xa1</em>. Phylogenomics clustered these strains with <em>Xoo</em> from Southern-China. African rice varieties do not carry effective resistance. To protect African rice production against this emerging threat, we developed a hybrid CRISPR-Cas9/Cpf1 system to edit all known TALe-binding elements in three <em>SWEET</em> promoters of the East African elite variety Komboka. The edited lines show broad-spectrum resistance against Asian and African strains of <em>Xoo</em>, including strains recently discovered in Tanzania. The strategy could help to protect global rice crops from BB pandemics.</span></p>