Wheat resistance to Fusarium head blight and breeding strategies

Abstract

Fusarium head blight (FHB) in wheat is one of the most damaging diseases affecting global wheat production. Over the past few decades, significant advancements have been made in mitigating the impact of this disease through the development of resistant wheat varieties. However, the FHB epidemic has been increasing due to changes in climate and crop rotation. Improving breeding efficiency is urgently needed. Cloning disease resistance genes and elucidating their molecular mechanisms will accelerate the breeding of FHB-resistant wheat varieties. This review outlines the five types of FHB resistance in wheat, provides definitions and potential mechanisms for each type, and reviews the cloned resistance genes and the resistance mechanisms they mediate. Additionally, this review discusses the progress in breeding FHB-resistant wheat via resistance genes and proposes strategies for different resistance requirements in breeding, with the goal of increasing the efficiency of FHB resistance breeding in wheat.