Grapevine is one of the world’s most economically important fruit crops. It is known that Vitis vinifera is a host for a large number of pathogenic agents, which significantly reduce the yield and berry quality. This forces the agronomists to use a huge amount of fungicides. Over the last few decades, alternative methods for solving this problem have been developed and continue to be developed. Such new technologies as marker-assisted selection, bioengineering of the rhizosphere, genetic engineering (transgenesis, cisgenesis and intragenesis) allow the production of pathogen-resistant cultivars. However, they are linked to a number of problems. One of the most promising methods is the creation of modified non-transgenic cultivars via CRISPR/Cas9-targeted mutagenesis. Therefore, researchers are actively looking for target genes associated with pathogen resistance and susceptibility. This review elucidates the main mechanisms of plant—pathogen interactions, the immune systems developed by plants, as well as the identified genes for resistance and susceptibility to the biotrophic pathogen Erysiphe necator and the necrotrophic pathogen Botrytis cinerea.

Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] is produced in 93 countries of the world on 120.5 million hectares. The production area of the crop is located between 56N. (Russian Federation) and 35-37S (Argentina). In the gene pool of the crop, there is a wide variety of genotypes of different maturity groups, which every has a relatively narrow latitudinal adaptability, which depends on heat and moisture supply and the duration of photoperiod. An urgent problem of our time is the creation of early maturated varieties which allow to expand soybean cultivation to the north. In soybean 12 major loci (E1E11 and J) have been identified, which control the flowering initiation and the response to the photoperiod. The time of maturation, photothermal response and, ultimately, the adaptation of the crop to different latitudes also depend on various allelic combinations and the interaction of these loci. All these loci have been mapped, and for some of them genes have been identified, their allelic diversity has been characterized and the mechanisms of their functioning and interaction have been described. But the molecular-genetic nature of the early maturity of soybean has not yet been revealed in detail. This review presents the current understanding of the structure and nature of the interaction of molecular genetic determinants of early maturity of soybean, which regulate the timing of its flowering and maturation at different photoperiods and their influence on other plant traits, including the type of growth and productivity. As a result, an idea of the optimal genotype for northern latitudes was proposed, with a combination of alleles providing the earliest flowering and maturation in relatively northern regions with a long day.