Crop diseases are major factors responsible for substantial yield losses worldwide, which affects global food security. The use of resistance (R) genes is an effective and sustainable approach to controlling crop diseases. Here, we review recent advances on R gene studies in the major crops and related wild species. Current understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying R gene activation and signaling, and susceptibility (S) gene-mediated resistance in crops are summarized and discussed. Furthermore, we propose some new strategies for R gene discovery, how to balance resistance and yield, and how to generate crops with broad-spectrum disease resistance. With the rapid development of new genome-editing technologies and the availability of increasing crop genome sequences, the goal of breeding next-generation crops with durable resistance to pathogens is achievable, and will be a key step toward increasing crop production in a sustainable way.

作物病是造成全球大量减产的主要因素，这影响了全球粮食安全。抗性（R）基因的使用是控制作物疾病的有效且可持续的方法。在这里，我们回顾了主要作物和相关野生物种中R基因研究的最新进展。总结和讨论了目前对R基因激活和信号传导以及易感性（S）基因介导的作物抗性的分子机制的理解。此外，我们提出了一些新的R策略基因发现，如何平衡抗性和产量以及如何产生具有广谱抗病性的农作物。随着新的基因组编辑技术的飞速发展以及作物基因组序列的不断增加，育种对病原体具有持久抗性的下一代作物的目标已可实现，并将成为以可持续方式提高作物产量的关键一步。