Summary
This modelling study quantifies a fundamental trade-off in resistance deployment: whilst adult plant resistance genes exert weaker selection pressure on pathogens due to their partial and delayed protection, this durability benefit comes at the cost of reduced short-term disease control. The authors demonstrate that stronger APR genes may be more quickly overcome by pathogen evolution but can provide meaningful near-term protection, particularly when deployed alongside major resistance genes through crop mixtures or rotations, where fitness costs of pathogen adaptation become significant. The findings challenge the assumption that weak efficiency automatically confers greater durability.
UK applicability
The study's parameterisation for Puccinia rust fungi on cereal crops is directly relevant to UK wheat and barley production, where rust diseases present considerable agronomic challenges. The findings may inform breeding strategies and resistance deployment recommendations for UK cereals programmes, though field validation under British climate and farming conditions would be needed to translate modelling predictions into practice.
Key measures
Resistance durability; selection pressure on pathogens; disease control effectiveness; propensity for pathogen adaptation; fitness costs of pathogen adaptation; temporal and spatial dynamics of resistance breakdown
Outcomes reported
The study used spatially explicit stochastic modelling to compare the epidemiological and evolutionary outcomes of deploying adult plant resistance (APR) genes alone or combined with major resistance genes in simulated agricultural landscapes. Key measurements included resistance durability, pathogen selection pressure, disease control efficacy, and the impact of fitness costs in pathogen adaptation.
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