Millets are climate-resilient, nutritionally rich cereal crops that play a critical role in food and nutritional security across arid and semi-arid regions. Despite their inherent tolerance to harsh environments, millet productivity is increasingly challenged by combined biotic and abiotic stresses, including drought, heat, salinity, and emerging diseases. Transcription factors are central regulators of plant stress responses, and among them, WRKY transcription factors constitute one of the largest and most plant-specific families, coordinating defense and stress-adaptive pathways. WRKY transcription factors are characterized by a conserved WRKY domain and zinc finger motif that enable binding to W-box cis-elements in target gene promoters, thereby regulating stress-responsive gene expression. This review synthesizes current knowledge on the structure, classification, and functional roles of WRKY transcription factors in major millet crops, including pearl millet, finger millet, foxtail millet, and related species. We summarize recent advances in millet genomic and transcriptomic resources that have facilitated genome-wide identification of WRKY gene families and their stress-responsive expression patterns. Particular emphasis is placed on WRKY-mediated regulation of disease resistance, abiotic stress tolerance, and hormonal crosstalk involving salicylic acid, jasmonic acid, ethylene, and abscisic acid signaling. Emerging evidence highlights WRKYs as central regulatory hubs that integrate biotic and abiotic stress signals via MAPK cascades, transcription factor networks, and redox signaling. Finally, the potential of WRKY transcription factors to improve millet through molecular breeding, genome editing, and marker-assisted selection is discussed, along with key challenges and future research directions.

The experiment was conducted during July–December, 2019 in the Agricultural Research Farm Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. One hundred and twenty-two F3 rice populations from the cross made between IC277332 (susceptible parent)×IC277275 (moderately resistant parent) were evaluated against sheath blight disease under field conditions. The area under disease progress curve (AUDPC) values categorized rice population into four groups viz., moderately resistant (24), moderately susceptible (38), susceptible (40), and highly susceptible (20). A moderate resistance level to the disease was identified during the study in 24 lines (19.6%) with a mean Percentage Disease Index (PDI) of 12.22%−36.6%. Furthermore, 38 individuals showed moderate susceptibility with AUDPC values (1012−1446 day-1). The maximum PDI and AUDPC value were 76.11 and 2325.56, and the minimum PDI and AUDPC values were 22.78 and 622.22, respectively. The principal component (PCA) biplot analysis showed 71.62% and 12.05% variation, respectively. Unweighted Pair Group Method of Arithmetic Means (UPGMA) cluster analysis grouped the 122 individuals into two major clusters, A and B and sub-clusters. These findings indicated that no rice line resistant to sheath blight had been identified. However, few population lines exhibited moderate resistance, which can be utilized as donor lines to generate sheath blight-resistant rice cultivars. These findings will provide a solid basis for our future breeding and screening activities at the institution.

Exserohilum spike blight, caused by Exserohilum rostratum, is an emerging constraint in wheat production, and improving host resistance is a sustainable strategy because the disease is governed largely by quantitative, environment-responsive loci rather than single major genes. Identifying genomic regions and biological pathways underlying quantitative resistance is therefore essential for developing durable resistant varieties. In this study, the Wheat Association Mapping Initiative spring wheat panel (n = 289) was evaluated across two contrasting Indian agroclimatic zones over two seasons. Resistance was quantified using two traits: incubation period (IP) and area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC). Significant genotype, environment, and genotype × environment interaction effects were observed for both traits (p < 0.001). IP and AUDPC were weakly correlated (r = −0.18 to 0.16), indicating that these traits represent partially distinct resistance components. Genome-wide association mapping identified 25 marker–trait associations, 13 for AUDPC and 12 for IP, with most associations showing environment dependence. Putative candidate genes highlighted defense-relevant loci, including an LRR receptor-like kinase and a WRKY transcription factor for IP, and an RGA2-like resistance gene and PHLOEM UNLOADING MODULATOR-like gene for AUDPC. These findings provide the first GWAS-based framework for E. rostratum resistance in wheat, prioritizing loci for validation and marker deployment.