sRNA transcriptome of wheat in response to stem rust and leaf rust interaction

The R-gene mediated resistance has been employed as an efficient approach to control the rust diseases in wheat, one of the dreadful biotrophic fungal diseases affecting crop yield. The R-genes Sr36 and Lr45 have proven their ability in controlling highly virulent strains of stem rust and leaf rust diseases respectively. However, these R-gene mediated modulation over the regulatory non-coding RNAs was unclear. We demonstrated the alteration in non-coding RNA profiles during the resistant and susceptible interaction of wheat with stem rust and leaf rust using Sr36 and Lr45 carrying lines as resistant lines. Puccinia graminis pathotype 40A and Puccinia triticina pathotype 77-5 were used for the infection treatment whereas, water was used for the mock treatment. The non-coding RNA profiles obtained in this study will be a resource to the expanding rust disease management program.