John Innes Centre researchers redesigned a new class of cereal immune sensors, a proof of concept that has not yet been tested in whole plants or farm fields.

Scientists have engineered a class of cereal immune receptors so they can recognize two different proteins used by the blast fungus, one of the most damaging diseases of rice, wheat and barley. The proof-of-concept work, led by the John Innes Centre in the United Kingdom with Kobe University in Japan, was published in Science Advances.

The results come from single wheat cells in the laboratory, not from plants in a greenhouse or field. Still, the approach targets a weakness that has undermined crop protection for decades — fungi often evolve around resistance genes that watch for only one threat.

Wheat, rice and barley feed billions of people, so a more durable defense would matter well beyond any one farm. This year has already shown how quickly grain supplies can tighten. In an August analysis, the International Food Policy Research Institute reported that drought cut estimated U.S. wheat production by about 26% for the 2026/27 season, as global wheat prices rose roughly 25% above January levels. That shortfall stems from weather, not blast — but it shows how sensitive bread and feed prices are to crop losses.

A Cereal Killer on Three Continents

The blast fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae, causes the most serious disease of cultivated rice and has spread to wheat and barley in parts of Asia and Africa, according to the John Innes Centre. Each year rice blast destroys enough rice to feed about 60 million people. Wheat blast was first identified in Brazil in the 1980s and has since moved to other continents.

A 2024 modeling study in Nature Climate Change estimated that about 6.4 million hectares (roughly 15.8 million acres) of farmland are already vulnerable to wheat blast under current climate conditions. The study projected that the disease would spread mainly in tropical regions as the climate warms. Those figures are modeled estimates, not observed losses.

The John Innes Centre noted that wheat blast has not been found in the United Kingdom. Changing conditions could eventually allow it to threaten cereal production in northern Europe, the institute said.

Plant Immune Receptors as Molecular Tripwires

To infect a plant, the blast fungus slips proteins called effectors into leaf and stem cells to disarm the host. Plants carry immune receptors that act like alarm sensors. When a receptor detects a matching effector, it can trigger the death of the infected cell, sealing off the fungus before it spreads.

For more than 30 years, most research focused on receptors known as NLRs. The new study looked at tandem kinase proteins (TKPs), a more recently discovered class found in cereals. Some TKPs carry a small section called a heavy metal associated (HMA) domain, which works as bait that effectors stick to. Similar bait domains already occur in some NLR receptors, which is why the team expected engineering methods developed for NLRs to carry over.

Using crystallography, the team mapped at high resolution how HMA domains bind blast effectors. One structure shows a wheat receptor called Rwt7 bound to a fungal effector called Pwt7, according to the institute's description of the research.

Two Targets Instead of One

Armed with that structural map, the researchers altered the receptor's bait so it could bind effectors associated with infections in both wheat and barley. That kind of dual specificity is unusual in nature. A receptor that watches for two effectors is harder to slip past, because the fungus would need to change or lose both proteins to avoid detection. Single-target resistance genes have often lost their value once a pathogen population changed the one protein they watched for, forcing breeders to search for replacements.

First author Daniel Yu said the work shows "this new class of resistance proteins is amenable for engineering purposes," ScienceDaily reported. Tools developed for NLRs may also work on TKPs, he said.

Group leader Mark Banfield said the two receptor classes are probably activated in different ways, which could allow scientists to stack them in one crop for layered protection. That strategy, he said, means "you are not putting all your eggs in one basket."

From Single Wheat Cells to Greenhouse Plants

The study is peer-reviewed laboratory research. The tests used protoplasts, individual wheat cells stripped of their walls, as stand-ins for whole plant tissue. The paper did not show that engineered receptors protect whole plants, reduce infection in a field or preserve yields.

The next step is moving from those cell assays to plants grown in greenhouses, according to the John Innes Centre. Beyond that, any engineered crop would need years of field trials, regulatory review and breeding into varieties farmers want to grow. No timeline for commercial use has been announced, and the institute has not said which crop varieties would be the first candidates.

Researchers also do not know how quickly the fungus might adapt to a dual-target receptor in real fields. Combining TKPs and NLRs is a hypothesis to be tested, not a demonstrated result. The work was funded by UK Research and Innovation's Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.

For U.S. consumers, the study does not change anything at the grocery store now. Farmers in blast-affected regions continue to rely on resistant varieties, adjusted planting dates and fungicides. Nature World News will report on greenhouse and field results as they are published.

What Readers Want to Know

What did the researchers achieve? They engineered cereal immune receptors called tandem kinase proteins to recognize two blast fungus effectors, one associated with wheat infection and one with barley infection.

Is blast-resistant wheat now available? No. The tests used individual wheat cells in the lab. Greenhouse testing is the next step, and field trials and regulatory review would follow.

Why does recognizing two targets matter? Fungi often evolve to escape receptors that watch for a single protein. A receptor that detects two effectors could be harder to evade, though that has not been tested in the field.

Where is wheat blast a problem? It began in Brazil in the 1980s and has spread to parts of Asia and Africa. The John Innes Centre says it has not been found in the United Kingdom.

Could this affect food prices? Not in the near term. Longer term, more durable resistance could reduce crop losses in regions where blast is spreading.

When will more results be available? The team plans greenhouse studies next. No date has been announced for published results.