Correspondence: dwwang@henau.edu.cn (Daowen Wang), zfu@mailbox.sc.edu (Zhenqing Fu), and hwang@henau.edu.cn (Huan Wang)

Wheat stripe rust, caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst), is one of the most devastating foliar diseases of wheat. Deployment of resistant varieties is an efficient way to control stripe rust in wheat. RING-type E3 ubiquitin ligases play vital role in regulating of disease resistance responses against multiple pathogens.

By analyzed RNA-seq data, we found a gene encoding a RING-finger E3 ubiquitin ligase, designated as TuRFE, was up-regulated significantly after T. urartu was inoculated with stripe rust and positively regulates the stripe rust resistance in wheat. TuCSP, a protein in the SA pathway, can interacts with TuRFE and ubiquitinated and degraded by TuRFE via the 26S proteasome. Downregulation of TuCSP by TuRFE enhanced the expression of downstream immune regulators. CRISPR-Cas9 inactivation of TaCSP in wheat confers broad-spectrum resistance against stripe rust and powdery mildew.

Taken together, TuRFE positively regulate the resistance against stripe rust by interacting with TuCSP to mediate its ubiquitination and degradation via 26S proteasome pathway. Our study provides a theoretical basis for utilizing the TuRFE-TuCSP module to develop broad-spectrum disease resistance against multiple pathogen species in wheat.