*Corresponding author: wujz@jaas.ac.cn

Wheat sharp eyespot, a disease mainly caused by the soilborne fungus Rhizoctonia cerealis, becomes a threat to wheat production worldwide. Wheat's genetic resistance to this disease is a potential approach to reducing the application of fungicides and farming practice inputs. In the present study, a genome-wide association study using 90K SNP identified a stable QTL on chromosome 7A (Qse.jaas-7A) for sharp eyespot resistance in a population comprising 255 wheat accessions across three environments.

Only a C2 domain-containing gene (TaBAP-7A) in the LD block of Qse.jaas-7A was induced by R. cerealis through comparative transcriptome analysis. A 107 bp deletion in the exon region of TaBAP-7A was identified in the susceptible lines compared to the resistant lines by sequence analysis.

Overexpression lines and ethyl-methanesulfonate (EMS) mutants revealed TaBAP-7A positively regulating resistance to R. cerealis. A subcellular localization assay suggested that TaBAP-7A localizes to the nucleus, cytoplasm, and cytomembrane.

Thus, this study proposes TaBAP-7A as a promising gene for improving wheat resistance to sharp eyespot in bread wheat.