Genetic Architecture and Molecular Mechanisms of Fusarium Crown Rot Resistance in Wheat

Fusarium crown rot (FCR) is a devastating soil-borne disease of wheat, primarily caused by Fusarium pseudograminearum, Fusarium graminearum and Fusarium culmorum. It causes substantial yield losses worldwide and contaminates grains with mycotoxins, posing major threats to food and feed safety. Given the lack of effective resistance in existing wheat cultivars, elucidating FCR resistance mechanisms and accelerating genetic improvement are of paramount importance. This review synthesises and evaluates the progress over the past 5 years, highlighting advances in the identification of major resistance loci from wheat and its wild relatives, as well as the assessment of their diversity. Advances in multi-omics approaches have underscored a sophisticated defence network, involving transcriptional reprogramming and metabolic remodelling. Furthermore, functional studies have identified key genes that enhance FCR resistance by modulating cell wall integrity, maintaining reactive oxygen species homeostasis and reprogramming defence metabolism, phytohormone pathways, as well as the transcriptome. Finally, we outline future research directions, including the establishment of standardised FCR phenotyping systems, the employment of gene editing technologies and artificial intelligence and the elucidation of the regulatory networks underlying FCR resistance. We conclude that a multi-disciplinary approach, integrating precision phenotyping, bioinformatics and genetics, is essential for overcoming key biological constraints in FCR resistance breeding and ensuring global wheat security.