Colocalization of genetic regions that confer resistance/susceptibility against Puccinia species and association with Pyrenophora teres loci within the barley genome

Authors: CLARE, SHAUN - Washington State University; NOVAKAZI, FLUTURE - University Of Rostock; HAYES, PATRICK - Oregon State University; Moscou, Matthew; BRUEGGEMAN, ROBERT - Washington State University

Submitted to: Frontiers in Agronomy
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/26/2024
Publication Date: 10/1/2024
Citation: Clare, S.J., Novakazi, F., Hayes, P.M., Moscou, M.J., Brueggeman, R.S. 2024. Colocalization of genetic regions that confer resistance/susceptibility against Puccinia species and association with Pyrenophora teres loci within the barley genome. Frontiers in Agronomy. 6. https://doi.org/10.3389/fagro.2024.1451281.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fagro.2024.1451281

Interpretive Summary: Scientists are constantly seeking new sources of disease resistance to diverse plant pathogens. Typically, this process involves screening large diverse sources seed that include elite (improved accessions), landrace (unimproved accessions), and wild accessions. After identifying resistant material, scientists use genetics to introduce these genes into next-generation crops. For barley, this effort involves hundreds of scientists around the world that are rapidly identifying new sources of disease resistance. To coordinate their efforts, we have systemically analyzed the regions of the genome that provide resistance to a group of barley diseases called rusts. In doing so, we found that resistance often co-localizes, suggesting that the same genes may be providing resistance to different pathogens. By understanding the co-occurrence of disease resistance, we can help plant breeders with breeding different sources of resistance to diverse plant diseases.

Technical Abstract: Cereal rust diseases are some of the most devastating and economical important diseases of barley including leaf, stem, and stripe rust. However, research into the genetics and molecular mechanisms of these pathosystems is often conducted independently and in isolation. Examples of disease interaction genes functioning sympathetically to multiple pathogens or antagonistically to additional pathogens have already been reported. Therefore, consolidation of loci that have been reported in multiple studies and across pathosystems is imperative to breed cultivars that maximize resistance to multiple pathogens and avoid inadvertent incorporation of susceptibility loci that act antagonistically to alternative pathogens. This review summarizes loci reported in three key biotrophic pathosystems of barley including leaf, stem, and stripe rust. In conjunction with previously consolidated net blotch loci, this review lays the foundation for a wider barley resistance/susceptibility atlas.