Brian Joel Steffenson

The paper presents haplotype-phased, chromosome-scale genomes of Puccinia hordei isolates, revealing repeat expansion, somatic hybridization, and genome plasticity.

The paper characterizes novel clonal lineages of wheat stem rust in South America using genomic data and finds a predominant lineage unique to the region with stepwise mutation patterns.

The paper examines introgression from cultivated barley into wild barley accessions, finding 16% of accessions show genetic evidence of introgression, with implications for conservation.

All five wild populations fed an early barley founder population in the Fertile Crescent during extended pre-domestication cultivation; about 91% of wild-matched haplotypes split 32 to 8 ka BP.

The paper identifies functional NLR resistance genes in plants by combining high expression signatures with high-throughput transformation and phenotyping, confirming new resistance genes against stem rust in wheat.

The paper identifies a two-component resistance mechanism in wheat where a tandem kinase sensor recruits an NLR helper to trigger immunity against fungal pathogens.

This study identifies Scs6, a barley gene required for susceptibility to the necrotrophic fungus Bipolaris sorokiniana, and shows it is targeted by a non-ribosomal peptide effector.

The paper sequenced wild barley to identify genetic markers linked to agronomic traits and found novel loci for stem rust resistance and days to heading.

This study presents a barley pangenome revealing structural variation linked to traits like disease resistance and plant architecture, highlighting its role in adaptive evolution.

The paper analyzes the genetic composition and history of the bread wheat D genome using a pangenome of its donor species, revealing contributions from discrete subpopulations of Aegilops tauschii.

This study constructs a high-resolution haplotype pangenome of oat crown rust, revealing somatic hybridization, recombination, and intercontinental migration as drivers of genetic diversity.

The paper shows that the Ug99 wheat stem rust pathogen emerged through somatic hybridisation and nuclear exchange between dikaryons, with one haploid nucleus genotype shared with an older African lineage.

This paper clones four stem rust resistance genes in wild diploid wheat using association genetics and R gene enrichment sequencing within six months.

The paper uses RNA-seq to compare gene expression in barley resistant and susceptible to spot blotch, finding few major differences in defense responses.

This study assesses the functionality of cloned wheat Sr genes in barley, finding that Sr22, Sr33, Sr35, and Sr45 confer effective resistance against stem rust caused by Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici.