Recently, the Pi-ta gene was isolated near the centromere of rice chromosome 12 using a positional cloning strategy from the Japanese cultivar _Yashiro-mochi_ (Bryan et al. 2000). The predicted Pi-ta gene apparently encodes a cytoplasmic NBStype protein receptor that binds the putative processed product of AVR-Pita in order to activate the defence response (Bryan et al. 2000, Jia et al. 2000, Orbach et al. 2000). Unique physical interaction of the Pi-ta and AVR-Pita proteins lead one to appreciate the coevolution of a blast resistance gene with its corresponding avirulence gene