Work

The wheat Lr28 locus harbors three tandem NLR genes that independently confer leaf rust resistance

Year: 2026

Type: preprint

Abstract: Leaf rust is a devastating wheat disease, and deploying resistant cultivars is the most effective control strategy. Here, we report a high-quality genome assembly for the Lr28 introgression line GSTR 428 and use this resource to clone Lr28 , a resistance locus introgressed from an Aegilops speltoides segment into wheat chromosome arm 4AL. The Lr28 locus comprises three tandem NLR genes ( CNL1 - CNL3 ), each of which is independently sufficient to confer resistance, as demonstrated by CRISPR/Cas9-induced mutations and transgenic complementation. CNL1 and CNL2 are identical and share 99.03% protein sequence identity with CNL3. The same three genes occur in four Ae. speltoides accessions. We further demonstrate that Lr28 underlies the major 4AL resistance QTL identified by genome-wide association study (GWAS) in European wheat cultivars. To reduce linkage drag, we generate shortened alien segments (< 1.22 Mb) harboring Lr28 using the ph1b mutant. The cloning of Lr28 will accelerate its deployment in wheat breeding programs.

Source: Research Square

DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-11240051/v1

Authors: Shisheng Chen, Liang Qiao, Hongna Li, Rui Song, Qing Wang, Shams ur Rehman, Ming Hao, Xiaodong Wang, Haitao Yu, Yi Ding, Peng Zhang

Institutions: Peking University, Sichuan Agricultural University, Hebei Agricultural University, The University of Sydney

Language: English

Topic: Wheat and Barley Genetics and Pathology

Subfield: Plant Science

Field: Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Zero hunger

Open Access status: green

OpenAlex ID: W7225385703

Cites: 92

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Related to: 10