Regulatory balance between ear rot resistance and grain yield and their breeding applications in maize and other crops

Fungi are prevalent pathogens that cause substantial yield losses of major crops. Ear rot (ER), which is primarily induced by Fusarium or Aspergillus species, poses a significant challenge to maize production worldwide. ER resistance is regulated by several small effect quantitative trait loci (QTLs). To date, only a few ER-related genes have been identified that impede molecular breeding efforts to breed ER-resistant maize varieties.