oliver.powell@kaust.edu.sa, renjie.chen@kaust.edu.sa, brande.wulff@kaust.edu.sa

More than half of all cloned resistance (R) genes encode nucleotide-binding, leucine-rich repeat (NLR) intracellular immune receptors. This effort has been greatly assisted by the development of tools capable of annotating NLR loci across the genome.

However, in wheat and barley, 20% of cloned R genes encode kinase-fusion proteins (KFPs). Recently, we cloned a genetic interactor required for the function of a KFP providing mechanistic insights into the KFP immune response.

Based on this discovery, we are developing genome-wide scans to identify KFPs with their candidate signalling partners. This will allow us to quantify the prevalence of KFPs in plant immunity. The best candidates from this analysis will be selected for further analysis including in silico effector discovery and in vitro functional characterisation.

Through this work we hope to provide mechanistic insight into the emerging class of KFP immune receptors.