Cereal Root Interactions with Soilborne Pathogens—From Trait to Gene and Back

Realizing the yield potential of crop plants in the presence of shifting pathogen populations, soil quality, rainfall, and other agro-environmental variables remains a challenge for growers and breeders worldwide. In this review, we discuss current approaches for combatting the soilborne phytopathogenic nematodes, Pratylenchus and Heterodera of wheat and barley, and Meloidogyne graminicola Golden and Birchfield, 1965 of rice. The necrotrophic fungal pathogens, Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn 1858 AG-8 and Fusarium spp. of wheat and barley, also are discussed. These pathogens constitute major causes of yield loss in small-grain cereals of the Pacific Northwest, USA and throughout the world. Current topics include new sources of genetic resistance, molecular leads from whole genome sequencing and genome-wide patterns of hosts, nematode or fungal gene expression during root-pathogen interactions, host-induced gene silencing, and building a molecular toolbox of genes and regulatory sequences for deployment of resistance genes. In conclusion, improvement of wheat, barley, and rice will require multiple approaches.