Interestingly, our study found that most WRKY genes and bZIP genes were downregulated only in ∆imp-treated rice leaves relative to those in PXO99A-treated leaves at 1 dpi (Fig. 7 and Table S7), indicating the potential role of Xoo Imp in affecting WRKY- or bZIP-mediated defense responses at the early stage of infection. Here, IMPA1 is linked to infection.