Wheat is an important source of dietary protein and daily calories for majority of the world’s population. Although several pests and diseases affect yield potential and quality, the three rusts and powdery mildew fungi have caused major epidemics in the past and continue to threaten wheat production despite the widespread use of genetic resistance and fungicides. The evolution and migration of more virulent and aggressive race lineages of rust fungi have rendered varieties vulnerable. Fusarium head blight, leaf spotting diseases, root diseases and, more recently, wheat blast (in South America, Bangladesh and more recently Zambia) have become increasingly important owing to narrow options for resistance diversity. Race-specific and quantitative resistance are well studied for most diseases; their selection and deployment as combinations through phenotyping coupled with molecular strategies offer great promise in achieving resistance durability and enhancing global wheat productivity. Advances in next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies, functional genomics and bioinformatics tools have revolutionized the area of wheat genomics. Recent advances in sequencing an annotated wheat reference genome with a detailed analysis of gene content among sub-genomes will not only accelerate our understanding of the genetic basis of bread wheat, at the same time wheat breeders can now use this information to identify genes conferring disease resistance. The sequence alignment of the wheat genome has facilitated better identification of marker trait associations, candidate genes and enhanced breeding values in genomic selection (GS) studies. High throughput genotyping platforms have not only reduced the cost, but wider genome coverage and density have enabled better estimation of genetic diversity, construction of the high-density genetic maps, dissecting polygenic traits, understanding their interactions through genome-wide association studies (GWAS), quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping and isolation of R-genes. Ease of deploying breeder’s friendly Kompetitive allele specific polymerase chain reaction (KASP) markers in the recent years has expedited the identification and pyramiding of resistance alleles/genes in elite lines. This review provides the overview of important diseases affecting wheat productivity, considering their geographical distribution, impacts, management strategies and briefly addresses the new molecular/genomic tools in the current era to enhance resistance breeding and deployment opportunities for wheat improvement.

Wheat CRP FP3 - Global partnership to accelerate genetic gain in farmers field

Text in English