Rapid trait discovery for functional disease resistance genes: exploring applications to wheat rust

Introducing functional resistance genes to enhance the plant immune system is highly effective for disease resistance, but identifying new immune receptors is resource intensive. We observed that functional immune receptors of the NLR class show a signature of high expression in uninfected plants across both monocot and dicot species. Here, by exploiting this signature combined with high-throughput transformation, we generated a wheat transgenic array of 995 NLRs from diverse grass species. Using this array, we confirm new resistance genes against the stem rust pathogen Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici and the leaf rust pathogen Puccinia triticina, major threats to wheat production. This NLR collection is a valuable resource, revealing insights into NLR evolution, variation across donor species, and NLR-effector interactions. This pipeline facilitates the rapid identification of candidate NLRs and provides in-planta gene validation of resistance. The accelerated discovery of new NLRs from a large gene pool of diverse and non-domesticated plant species will enhance the development of disease resistant crops.