The present invention belongs to the field of genetic engineering. Specifically, the present invention relates to a directed evolution method based on geminivirus. More specifically, the present invention relates to a directed evolution method for in vivo screening of a genetic element in a plant cell by using primary and secondary replicons of geminivirus.

The invention relates to novel maize plants, seeds and compositions, as well as improvements to maize plant breeding and methods for creating modifications in maize plant genomes.

The present disclosure relates to the use of recombinant proteins for inducing epigenetic modifications at specific loci, as well as to methods of using these recombinant proteins for modulating the expression of genes in plants.

The present invention relates to methods for producing plants with increased fungal resistance, preferably seedling resistance against Northern Corn Leaf Blight. Further provided are methods for introducing, modifying, or modulating at least one wall-associated kinase (WAK) in(to) a plant cell, tissue, organ, or whole plant and thereby causing a reduced synthesis of benzoxazinoid and in turn increased fungal resistance. There are further provided methods to identify and/or modify downstream effector molecules in a WAK signalling cascade. Finally, plant cells, tissues, organs or whole plants having increased fungal resistance and methods using substances to activate signalling pathways in a targeted way are provided. The present invention thus relates to WAKs as master regulators and crucial signaling mediators in plant defense against fungal disease and the regulation and cross-talk mechanisms in the WAK signaling cascade and further gives examples for establishing novel anti-fungal strategies relevant for a series of crop plants.

This invention relates to methods of controlling gene expression or gene suppression in eukaryotic cells. One aspect of this invention includes modifying the degree of silencing of a target gene by use of a modified suppression element. Another aspect includes providing a eukaryotic cell having a desired phenotype resulting from transcription in the eukaryotic cell of a modified suppression element. Also provided are transgenic eukaryotic cells, transgenic plant cells, plants, and seeds containing modified suppression elements, and useful derivatives of such transgenic plant cells, plants, or seeds, such as food or feed products.

A mutant granule-bound starch synthase 1 (GBSS1) polypeptide and a nucleic acid, and use thereof are provided. Compared to an amino acid sequence of a parent GBSS1, the mutant GBSS1 polypeptide has a mutation at an amino acid corresponding to amino acid 427 and/or amino acid 428 of an amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 1. An amylose content (AC) in a plant changes after the plant undergoes GBSS1 mutation, which has very promising application prospects in the improvement of edible quality of rice.

The present invention is directed to promoter sequences and promoter control elements, polynucleotide constructs comprising the promoters and control elements, and methods of identifying the promoters, control elements, or fragments thereof. The invention further relates to the use of the present promoters or promoter control elements to modulate transcript levels in plants, and plants containing such promoters or promoter control elements.

The present invention relates to genetically modified cells that are capable of optimal transgene expression by co-expressing a silencing suppressor whilst at the same time are also capable of silencing a gene, such as a naturally occurring gene of the cell. The present invention also relates to methods of producing the modified cells, as well as relates to processes for obtaining a genetically modified cell with a desired property.

The invention includes materials and methods to generate numerous small RNAs from one polynucleotide construct (synthetic gene) to facilitate RNA-guided multiplex genome editing, modification, inhibition of expression and other RNA-based technologies. The synthetic gene/polynucleotide construct encodes polycistronic RNA components separated by tRNAs, and preferably also includes regulatory components such as a promoter or terminator to form an expression cassette. Once transcribed in a cell, the transcript is processed by the cell to multiple RNA molecules by the endogenous tRNA processing system. The system can be sued for any RNA based gene manipulation method including RNA-mediated genome editing, artificial microRNA mediated gene silencing, small RNA mediated genetic manipulation, double-stranded RNA mediated gene silencing, antisense mechanisms and the like.

The present disclosure relates to the field of plant molecular biology, more particularly to regulation of gene expression in plants.