USask Researchers Discover Pair of Genes that Protect Wheat from Stripe Rust

In their study of wild wheat varieties that carry resistance to harmful pathogens, University of Saskatchewan (USask) researchers Dr. Valentyna Klymiuk and Dr. Curtis Pozniak discovered a unique pair of genes that work together to protect wheat against disease.

From a wild strain of wheat, Klymiuk and Pozniak discovered significant resistance to stripe rust, a fungal disease considered one of the top five concerns for producers. Klymiuk and Pozniak realized that the resistance they identified in this wild strain was behaving differently than the others they had previously studied. While it is typical for one gene to be responsible for the expression of stripe rust, the wild wheat had two genes working together as a pair for full resistance. One gene is responsible for sensing the invading pathogen, while the other activates the immune response of the plant to stop the pathogen in its tracks.

To identify which genes were responsible for resistance, the researchers turned each of the genes “off”. When a gene is switched “off,” the plant can no longer protect itself and becomes susceptible to the pathogen. The researchers thought that only a single gene was responsible for the resistance, but further tests revealed that the two outlier genes interact at a protein level, physically coming together to initiate the resistance response.

For more details, read the article in USask News.