Genetics of Disease Resistance in Wheat

Dear Colleagues,

Wheat is one of the most important staple food crops providing most of the human population’s caloric intake. Consequently, wheat yield and production affect the global economy. Likewise, in other crop plants, wheat is in a continual evolutionary arms race with its coevolving pathogens. The production of wheat throughout the world has been significantly reduced because of either biotic and/or abiotic factors. Historically, devastating pathogens endure producing new virulent strains that overcome past sources of resistance. Developing resistant cultivars is the most economically and environmentally feasible strategy for controlling diseases of wheat (biotic factors).

Advanced genetics studies of disease resistance have been used to detect pathogen resistance genes (R-genes). Despite the large genome size, complexity and very high proportions of relatively long near-identical repeats of wheat, geneticists and breeders continuously strive to develop improved varieties by fine-tuning genetically complex yield and end-use quality parameters in maintaining stable yields. The large and redundant nature of wheat’s hexaploid genome makes it a good candidate for studying R-gene evolution with respect to recent polyploidization events. Wheat geneticists and breeders still need more investigations to understand the wheat biology and the molecular basis for agronomic traits. To meet the demand of the world population, continuous research work on the genetics of disease resistance in wheat is important in accelerating wheat genetic gain and increasing yield and maintaining quality traits by ensuring genetic diversity.

Prof. Dr. Zaifeng Li
Guest Editor

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• wheat
• genetics
• pathogens
• R-genes
• disease resistance
• genetic gain