Résumé
This review mainly focuses on the most recent progress in molecular research that contribute to a better understanding of the rust fungal genomes and biology, but also the interaction with the plant host and the establishment of a successful infection. We consider the progress made in comparative genomics following the important effort of fungal genome sequence projects undertaken in the last few years. We focus not only on currently well-studied models, Puccinia spp. and Melampsora spp., but also on other rust species, including Hemileia vastatrix and Uromyces spp., which offer useful additional data sets. Finally, we describe the latest antifungal strategies available, including novel drug target discovery and the use of RNA interference to engineer plant resistance to rust fungi.