Triticeae Genomics and Genetics, 2025, Vol.16, No.4, 184-194 http://cropscipublisher.com/index.php/tgg 184 Research Insight Open Access Molecular Breeding Strategies for Pyramiding Disease Resistance in Wheat Jin Wang, Xing Zhao, Fumin Gao Tropical Microbial Resources Research Center, Hainan Institute of Tropical Agricultural Resources, Sanya, 572025, Hainan, China Corresponding email: fumin.gao@hitar.org Triticeae Genomics and Genetics, 2025, Vol.16, No.4 doi: 10.5376/tgg.2025.16.0020 Received: 30 Jun., 2025 Accepted: 15 Aug., 2025 Published: 30 Aug., 2025 Copyright © 2025 Wang et al., This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Preferred citation for this article: Wang J., Zhao X., and Gao F.M., 2025, Molecular breeding strategies for pyramiding disease resistance in wheat, Triticeae Genomics and Genetics, 16(4): 184-194 (doi: 10.5376/tgg.2025.16.0020) Abstract Wheat is one of the most important food crops in the world, but its yield and quality are often seriously threatened by a variety of diseases such as rust, head blight and powdery mildew. Traditional single-gene disease resistance breeding faces huge challenges due to the rapid mutation of pathogen populations and the easy failure of resistance. In this context, the aggregation of multiple disease resistance genes through molecular breeding has become an effective strategy to improve wheat disease resistance. This study reviews the current research progress of wheat disease resistance genes, the application of molecular tools such as marker-assisted selection (MAS), genomic selection, and CRISPR gene editing, as well as the integration path of these technologies in the breeding of multi-resistant wheat varieties. Through actual cases such as the aggregation of rust resistance genes such as Lr, Sr, and Yr, and the combined application of Fhb1 and Fhb2 head blight resistance genes, the significant effect of gene aggregation in enhancing disease resistance was verified. At the same time, this study also analyzed the effects of aggregation on agronomic traits, explored the challenges faced by resistance persistence and gene interactions, and looked forward to the future direction of combining molecular breeding with sustainable agriculture, in order to achieve long-term control of wheat diseases and food security. Keywords Wheat; Disease resistance gene aggregation; Marker-assisted selection; Genomic selection; Breeding strategy 1 Introduction Wheat is an important guarantee for global food security and is the staple food for billions of people every day. It is highly adaptable and nutritious, so it is indispensable in many agricultural areas. Among all commercial crops, wheat has the largest planting area, especially in developing countries, where it is very important for food supply. Because it can adapt to a variety of climates and is the protagonist of people's diet, wheat has become a core crop in the global food system. But there are also many problems. Wheat is often threatened by several major diseases during the planting process, such as rust, Fusarium head blight and powdery mildew. Once these diseases break out, they may cause a significant reduction in production and even affect the stability of food supply (Liu et al., 2000; 2020; Zhang et al., 2021; Luo et al., 2023). What's more troublesome is that pathogens change very quickly, and the effects of many disease-resistant genes are not long-lasting. This makes disease management more complicated. We urgently need some more reliable and long-lasting methods to solve these problems (Wang et al., 2022; Koller et al., 2023). This study outlines the progress of major wheat diseases, molecular marker technology, and successful cases of gene aggregation through marker-assisted selection and transgenic methods in recent years. It also explores the molecular breeding strategy for wheat disease resistance gene aggregation, that is, integrating multiple resistance genes into a single variety to achieve broad-spectrum and lasting disease protection. The study emphasizes the integration of multiple resistance sites to cope with pathogen variation, so as to achieve long-term resistance to diseases and stable yield of wheat. This study hopes to aggregate disease resistance genes through molecular breeding methods to provide a powerful solution for achieving sustainable wheat production and global food security.
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