Pib is a well-characterized rice blast-resistance gene belonging to the nucleotide binding site (NBS) and leucine-rich repeat (LRR) superfamily.Expression of Pib was low under non-challenged conditions,but strongly induced by the blast-causing fungal pathogen Magnaporthe grisea,thereby conferring resistance to the pathogen.It is generally established that cytosine methylation of the promoter-region often plays a repressive role in modulating expression of the gene in question.We report here that two critical regions of the Pib promoter were heavily CG cytosine-methylated in both cultivars studied.Surprisingly,induced expression of Pib by M.grisea infection did not entail its promoter demethylation,and partial demethylation by 5-azacytidine-treatment actually reduced Pib expression relative to wildtype plants.Accordingly,the blast disease-resistance was compromised in the 5-azaC-treated plants relative to wild-type.In contrast,the disease susceptibility was not affected by the 5-azaC treatment in another two rice cultivars that did not contain the Pib gene,ruling out effects of other R genes and non-specific genotoxic effects by the drug-treatment as a cause for the compromised Pib-conditioned blast-resistance.Taken together,our results suggest that promoter DNA methylation plays a novel enhancing role in conditioning high-level of induced expression of the Pib gene in times of M.grisea infection,and its conferred resistance to the pathogen. Pib is a well-characterized rice blast-resistance gene belongs to the nucleotide binding site (NBS) and leucine-rich repeat (LRR) superfamily. Expression of Pib was low under non-challenged conditions, but strongly induced by the blast-causing fungal pathogen Magnaporthe grisea, thereby conferring resistance to the pathogen. It is generally established that cytosine methylation of the promoter-region often plays a repressive role in modulating expression of the gene in question. We report here that two critical regions of the Pib promoter were heavily CG cytosine-methylated in both cultivars studied. Surprisingly, induced expression of Pib by M.grisea infection did not entail its promoter demethylation, and partial demethylation by 5-azacytidine-treatment actually reduced Pib expression relative to wildtype plants. Accreditedly, the blast disease -resistance was compromised in the 5-azaC-treated plants relative to wild-type. In contrast, the disease susceptibility was not affected by the 5-azaC tr eatment in another two rice cultivars that did not contain the Pib gene, ruling out effects of other R genes and non-specific genotoxic effects by the drug-treatment as a cause for the compromised Pib-conditioned blast-resistance. suggest that promoter DNA methylation plays a novel enhancing role in conditioning high-level of induced expression of the Pib gene in times of M. grisea infection, and its conferred resistance to the pathogen.