Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences have identified the first monocot plant viral resistance gene, barley stripe resistance 1 (BSR1), from a wild grass Brachypodium distachyon. This gene encodes a nucleotide-binding, leucine-rich repeat immune receptor (NLR) protein that can improve the resistance of cereal crops like wheat and barley to the Barley stripe mosaic virus (BSMV). The BSR1 gene was cloned using map-based cloning and was found to interact with the TGB1 movement protein of the BSMV virus. The study suggests that the BSR1 protein interacts with the TGB1 amino acids 390/392 and two amino acids in the Brachypodium BSR1 protein, highlighting the importance of using the model plant Brachypodium to find novel genes for cereal crop improvement.