Abstract
Wheat, one of the most important food crops globally, has long been threatened by various diseases, including rust and powdery mildew, which pose a significant challenge to food security. To address this issue, breeding wheat varieties with broad-spectrum and durable disease resistance has become a core goal in research and breeding. This paper comprehensively summarizes the latest progress and application trends in wheat disease resistance gene mining and functional research. First, it explains the pathogenic characteristics, genetic basis, and biological traits of disease resistance for major wheat diseases. Then, it systematically reviews the application and advantages of modern genomics tools (such as genome-wide association studies, genome re-sequencing, transcriptome analysis, etc.) in disease resistance gene identification, as compared to traditional phenotypic selection. Following that, the latest technological advancements in disease resistance gene functional research are discussed, including gene editing, functional validation, disease resistance signaling pathway analysis, and molecular mechanism exploration. Finally, the application prospects of disease-resistance genes in wheat breeding are analyzed, with a particular focus on the potential of genome editing technologies (such as CRISPR-Cas systems) and transgenic technologies in developing disease-resistant varieties. This paper aims to provide a systematic reference for wheat disease resistance research and breeding strategies. It anticipates the future application potential of combining multi-gene resistance strategies with novel biotechnology to enhance crop disease resistance and breeding efficiency.
