To safeguard bread wheat against pests and diseases, breeders have introduced over 200 resistance genes into its genome, thus nearly doubling the number of designated resistance genes in the wheat gene pool¹. Isolating these genes facilitates their fast-tracking in breeding programs and incorporation into polygene stacks for more durable resistance. We cloned the stem rust resistance gene Sr43, which was crossed into bread wheat from the wild grass Thinopyrum elongatum^2,3. Sr43 encodes an active protein kinase fused to two domains of unknown function. The gene, which is unique to the Triticeae, appears to have arisen through a gene fusion event 6.7 to 11.6 million years ago. Transgenic expression of Sr43 in wheat conferred high levels of resistance to a wide range of isolates of the pathogen causing stem rust, highlighting the potential value of Sr43 in resistance breeding and engineering.

为了保护面包小麦免受病虫害的侵害，育种者已将 200 多个抗性基因引入其基因组中，从而使小麦基因库中指定抗性基因的数量几乎增加了一倍¹。分离这些基因有助于它们在育种计划中的快速跟踪，并纳入多基因堆栈以获得更持久的抗性。我们克隆了茎锈病抗性基因Sr43，该基因与野草Thinopyrum elongatum ^2,3杂交到面包小麦中。Sr43编码一种与两个功能未知的结构域融合的活性蛋白激酶。该基因是小麦科特有的，似乎是通过 6.7 至 1160 万年前的基因融合事件产生的。Sr43的转基因表达小麦中的 Sr43 赋予了对引起茎锈病的多种病原体分离株的高水平抗性，凸显了Sr43在抗性育种和工程方面的潜在价值。