Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a destructive disease affecting cereal crops globally due to mycotoxin contamination of grains that reduce yield and quality. Among hundreds of QTLs identified for resistance, the QTL-Fhb1 is of significant interest even today, for its major contribution to FHB resistance. Previously, QTL-Fhb1 dissection based on a combined metabolo-genomics approach, identified a few potential resistance genes, including a NAC like transcription factor for FHB resistance. Sequencing and phylogenetic analysis confirmed NAC to be the wheat TaNAC032. Also, the quantitative RT-PCR studies revealed a greater induced expression of TaNAC032 in resistant NIL in comparison to susceptible NIL upon Fusarium graminearum (Fg) infection. The virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) based functional validation of TaNAC032 in resistant NIL confirmed increased disease severity and fungal biomass. Metabolic profiling revealed low abundances of resistance-related (RR) metabolites in TaNAC032 silenced NIL-R compared to non-silenced. Silenced plants showed decreased transcript abundances of RR metabolite biosynthetic genes associated with a reduction in total lignin content in rachis, confirming the regulatory role of TaNAC032 in wheat in response to Fg infection. If TaNA032 is mutated in an FHB susceptible cultivar, it can be edited to enhance FHB resistance.

镰刀菌枯萎病（FHB）是一种破坏性疾病，由于谷物的霉菌毒素污染降低了产量和质量，因此在全球范围内影响谷物作物。在数百个被鉴定为具有抗药性的QTL中，QTL-Fhb1甚至在今天仍然引起人们极大的兴趣，因为它对FHB抗药性有重要贡献。以前，基于组合代谢组学方法的QTL-Fhb1解剖发现了一些潜在的耐药基因，包括FHB耐药性的NAC样转录因子。测序和系统发育分析证实NAC为小麦TaNAC032。此外，定量RT-PCR研究显示，与禾谷镰孢镰刀菌（Fg）易感的NIL相比，TaNAC032在抗性NIL中具有更高的诱导表达。） 感染。TaNAC032在抗性NIL中基于病毒诱导的基因沉默（VIGS）的功能验证证实疾病严重性和真菌生物量增加。代谢谱分析显示，沉默后的NIL-R与未沉默的TaNAC032相比，耐药相关（RR）代谢产物含量低。沉默的植物显示RR代谢产物生物合成基因的转录丰度降低，与轮枝中总木质素含量的降低有关，证实了TaNAC032在小麦中响应Fg感染的调控作用。如果TaNA032在FHB易感品种中发生突变，则可以对其进行编辑以增强FHB抗性。