A Repertoire of Major Genes From Crop Wild Relatives for Breeding Disease‐Resistant Wheat, Rice, Maize, Soybean and Cotton Crops

ABSTRACT Global food demand is predicted to rise anywhere from 59% to 98% by 2050 because of increasing population. However, the continued depletion of natural resources and increasing biotic and abiotic stresses will continue to pose significant threats to global food security in coming years. Biotic stresses are responsible for severe yield loss, as 28.2% in wheat, 37.4% in rice, 31.2% in maize, 26.3% in soybean and 28.8% in cotton. Modern crop cultivars have lost much of their genetic diversity because of the bottleneck effect caused by artificial selection for desirable traits such as high yield and monoculture. Crop wild relatives (CWRs) tend to be more resistant to various biotic stresses; hence, they offer valuable gene pools for preserving healthy agro‐ecosystems and improving disease‐resistant traits. The introgression of novel genes and alleles from CWRs into modern crop varieties is a valuable method to improve disease resistance. The accumulation of sequence data on crop wild genomes, coupled with advanced gene‐editing technologies, offers an expedited pathway to convert CWRs into ideal future crops. This review aims to consolidate the information of the direct uses of novel genes of CWRs in mitigating biotic stress in wheat, rice, maize, soybean and cotton crops using breeding techniques.