S-PROTECT: Tissue-specific repression of S factor expression to enhance wheat disease resistance
Lead Research Organisation:
John Innes Centre
Department Name: Crop Genetics
Abstract
Wheat rusts are known as the "polio of agriculture" due to the threat they pose to wheat production worldwide. With a severe lack of resistance in European germplasm and issues around fungicide resistance and/or restrictions there is an urgent need to develop alternative strategies to enhance resilience. One alternative and likely more durable strategy is to disrupt host genes that encode susceptibility (S) factors. Pathogens target S factors to support their own establishment or colonization and/or modulate host defence responses. Thus, S factor disruption can confer a fundamental loss of susceptibility. In our ERC STG we developed a novel strategy for identification of S factors and found a series of host genes that play essential roles in supporting wheat rust colonization. However, disruption of S genes can have deleterious effects on yield or plant growth, which has prevented exploitation of many promising S factors in plant breeding. This PoC proposal will focus on overcoming this critical limitation, by employing precision transcriptional regulation. We will develop this approach into a platform technology for assessing S factor expression in wheat. Furthermore, we will use our long-standing connections at JIC will all major seed companies (including multinationals) to assess the commercial viability of this approach. The invention may also have broad applicability beyond wheat, which will be clarified during the project by identifying homologs of our previously characterised S factors and a strategy for precision transcriptional regulation in rice, soybean, maize, cotton and other cereals.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
Diane Saunders (Principal Investigator) |
Publications

Bailey S
(2024)
A history of strategies and a tapestry of triumphant tales in tackling plant fungal diseases
in Plant Pathology
Description | The aim of this project was to generate wheat lines where two genes that are critical for supporting wheat rust infection termed susceptibility genes (S-genes) are silenced independently in tissues infected by the wheat rusts as a mechanism to enhance wheat rust resistance. To date, we have: 1. Optimised methodology to conduct tissue-specific transcriptional repression in wheat. 2. Generated wheat lines required to assess the validity of the tissue-specific repression system. 3. Validated lines for successful repression of expression of the two S-genes. 4. Identified all components to transfer this system to other critical crop species if successful. 5. Initiated discussions with industrial partners regarding future potential avenues for utilising the system. |
Exploitation Route | If validated the tissue-specific transcriptional repression system will be of great interest to academic and non-academic partners. |
Sectors | Agriculture Food and Drink |