Advances in Mechanisms and Innovative Improvement Strategies for Wheat Disease Resistance

Wheat (Triticum aestivum) remains vital to global food security, yet diverse pathogens constantly threaten its stable production. To address these threats, the identification and utilization of resistant genetic resources is the most effective and eco-friendly approach to manage disease epidemics. Based on a systematic review of the molecular mechanisms of wheat immunity, this paper compares the infection strategies of biotrophic and necrotrophic pathogens and elucidates the evolutionary arms race between wheat and its pathogens. Particular emphasis is placed on key immune regulatory mechanisms, including resistosome assembly and allele-specific evolution, modular cooperation mediated by kinase-integrated immune receptors, and host physiological homeostasis reprogramming driven by non-canonical resistance genes. In addition, the molecular basis by which pathogen effectors promote susceptibility through hijacking host immune pathways or exploiting hypersensitive response-associated cell death is discussed. Building upon these mechanistic insights, we summarize current strategies for resistance resource discovery and precision improvement, including the construction of panoramic resistance-gene atlases, the exploitation of novel resistance resources from wild relatives, and receptor optimization through targeted editing of key genetic loci. In response to the continuing evolution of pathogen populations and the increasing prevalence of multiple concurrent diseases, we further propose several emerging directions for resistance improvement, including the decoupling of immune activation from cell death, the evolution-guided design of universal immune receptors, and the establishment of multi-kingdom immune ecological barriers. These concepts provide a theoretical framework and technical foundation for the rational design of broad-spectrum and durable disease resistance in wheat.