Under attack by a cereal killer: the hunt for disease susceptibility factors

小麦锈病是对小麦生产的持续全球性威胁，有可能导致未经处理的易感品种的全部作物损失。传统上，控制小麦锈病最有效的手段是通过整合部分或特定种族的抗性基因来部署抗性小麦品种。然而，这些特定种族的抗性基因很容易被病原体效应库中的微小遗传变化所克服。作为一种替代方案，破坏宿主基因的功能，这些基因在病原体定植中起着重要作用（即易感因子），可以作为一种更持久的宿主抗性形式。最著名的例子是大麦抗霉位点（Mlo）的功能丧失，该基因增强了大麦对白粉病的抗性，并在育种管道中被广泛操纵。该研究小组最近确定了一些与锈病易感性相关的小麦基因，这些基因极有可能成为非种族特异性抗性的新来源。该项目的目的将是功能表征这些基因及其在病原体入侵过程中的作用。该合作项目将寻求(i)评估这些基因在锈病感染期间的表达，（ii）通过基因操作确定它们的功能，（iii）评估它们在锈病进展中的作用，以及（iv）评估它们在植物育种中的效用。

Wheat rusts are a continual global threat to wheat production, with the potential to cause total crop loss in untreated susceptible varieties. Traditionally the most effective means of controlling wheat rust has been deployment of resistant wheat varieties, through integration of partial or race-specific resistance genes. However, these race-specific resistance genes are easily overcome by small genetic changes in the pathogen's effector repertoire. As an alternative, disrupting the function of host genes that play essential roles in pathogen colonization (i.e., susceptibility factors) can act as a more durable form of host resistance. The best-known example is loss of function of the mildew-resistance locus (Mlo) in barley, which enhances powdery mildew resistance and has been widely manipulated in breeding pipelines. The Research Group recently identified a number of wheat genes linked to rust susceptibility that have great potential to act as new sources of non-race-specific resistance. The aim of this project will be to functionally characterise these genes and their role during pathogen ingress. This collaborative project will seek to (i) evaluate the expression of a number of these genes during rust infection, (ii) determine their function through gene manipulation, (iii) assess their role during progression of rust disease, and (iv) assess their utility in plant breeding.