Physiological and Molecular Plant Pathology
around the world. Therefore, plant disease management has always been one of the main objectives of
any crop improvement program. Plant disease resistance (R) genes have the ability to detect a pathogen
attack and facilitate a counter attack against the pathogen. Numerous plant R-genes have been used with
varying degree of success in crop improvement programs in the past and many of them are being
continuously exploited. With the onset of recent genomic, bioinformatics and molecular biology techniques,
it is quite possible to tame the R-genes for efficiently controlling the plant diseases caused by
pathogens. This review summarizes the recent applications and future potential of R-genes in crop
disease management.