A Genomic View of Biotic Stress Resistance

Over the last 100 years, research in barley disease resistance has progressed from classical genetic approaches up to molecular genetics and genome-wide functional profiling. Along the way, a multitude of well-characterized genetic resources have paved the way for mechanistic investigations into barley immunity. Seminal discoveries in barley have been translated to other crops, thus proving it to be an excellent system for plant disease research. Recent access to high-quality barley and pathogen genomes has empowered large-scale functional studies and facilitated the development of new technologies to associate traits with genes. Continued integration of existing germplasm with anchored sequence data promises to expedite mapping and functional characterization of important disease traits. In this chapter, we offer a genomic view of barley biotic stress with a focus on different types of resistance, current genomic approaches to dissect immune responses, and future prospects for the field.