The functional genomics of host-pathogen interactions has become a core aspect of plant pathology, essential for managing devastating diseases and supporting sustainable crop production. It is a significant endeavour, as accurate genomic validations of target genes aligned with their functions are necessary before using these genes to develop new strategies for crop improvement. Ongoing research continues to reveal the functionality of plant disease resistance genes, emphasising their potential to aid resistance management approaches in crop plants.

In a recently published review article, “The emerging potential of certain existing resistance genes for rice diseases, along with the promising prospects of newly identified genes for informed application in rice improvement,” by R. Sridhar and K. Muralidharan (2025) https://doi.org/10.1007/s40003-025-00872-5, in the journal Agricultural Research, this topic regarding disease resistance in rice is explored, highlighting most of the key genes that have been characterised as described above. The functional validations are not included here due to space constraints, but they can be found in the respective citations, as the focus is on the functions of the resistance genes and the value of the phenotypic traits they confer.

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