Aspergillus flavus is an opportunistic, saprophytic fungus that infects maize and other fatty acid-rich food and feed crops and produces toxic and carcinogenic secondary metabolites known as aflatoxins. In vitro studies showed a five-fold increase in antifungal activity of AGM182 (vs. tachyplesin1) against A. flavus. Transgenic maize plants expressing AGM182 under maize Ubiquitin-1 promoter were produced through Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. PCR products confirmed integration of the AGM182 gene, while RT-PCR of maize RNA confirmed the presence of AGM182 transcripts. Maize kernel screening assay using a highly aflatoxigenic A. flavus strain (AF70) showed up to 72% reduction in fungal growth in the transgenic AGM182 seeds compared to isogenic negative control seeds.

The invention discloses a method for improving rice yield and a protein used thereof. The invention provides a method for cultivating the target rice, comprising the following steps of inhibiting the activity of RAY1 protein in original rice to obtain target rice; compared with the original rice, the target rice shows higher yield and/or larger grain size and/or stronger resistance to rice blast and/or higher plant height and/or longer stem internode length; the RAY1 protein is a protein composed of an amino acid sequence shown as SEQ ID No. 1 in a sequence list. The invention uses CRISPR/Cas9 technology to realize site-directed editing rice RAY1 gene, through knocking out rice RAY1 gene by frameshift mutation, the protein RAY1 is inactivated, and a new generation of rice germplasm with significantly improved yield is obtained.

The present disclosure relates to methods of generating plants resistant to pests and pathogens, and plants produced therefrom. The disclosure further relates to methods of identifying plants having a resistant gene(s). The disclosure further relates to compositions for controlling plant pests and pathogens.

Compositions and methods for generating maize plants that exhibit resistance to northern leaf blight are provided herein. Polynucleotides encoding a polypeptide that confers resistance to northern leaf blight, polynucleotide constructs comprising such, and maize plants comprising the polynucleotide constructs are provided.

The present invention relates to the modification of gene expression in plants in order to manipulate stomatal number, in particular to the modification of expression in plants of epidermal patterning factor (EPF). The invention also relates to genetically modified plants or plant parts with altered stomatal patterning compared to corresponding wild type plants or plant parts, where the plant stomatal development is altered by modification of the expression of EPF.

The present invention relates to Solanum lycopersicum (S. lycopersicum) plants with resistance to Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus (TYLCV), powdery mildew (PM) and nematodes. According to the invention, the resistances are provided by coupling in cis on the same chromosome the OL4 gene conferring resistance to PM and nematodes and TY1 gene conferring resistance to TYLCV, without coupling the Mi-1 gene conferring resistance to nematodes in cis with said OL4 gene conferring resistance to PM and nematodes and TY1 gene conferring resistance to TYLCV. The genes can be present homozygously or heterozygously in the genome of the S. lycopersicum plants, and they confer resistance to TYLCV, PM and nematodes. The present invention also provides methods for making such plants, and to methods of detecting and/or selecting such plants.

The present invention relates to a plant which has integrated into its genome an exogenous polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide which confers resistance to at least one strain of Puccinia graminis.

The present invention relates to a Cucumis sativus plant which may comprise a QTL, a copy number variant region, at least two copies of an ERF gene, or a mutation leading to increased expression of an ERF gene, which leads to Pythium resistance. The invention further relates to propagation material suitable for producing such Cucumis sativus plant. The invention also relates to a method for producing such Cucumis sativus plant and to methods for identification and selection of such a plant. In addition, the invention relates to a marker for identification of the QTL or copy number variant region, or for identification of the presence of at least two copies of an ERF gene resulting in Pythium resistance in Cucumis sativus, and to use of said marker. The invention also relates to seed which may comprise the QTL, copy number variant region, at least two copies of an ERF gene, or a mutation leading to increased expression of an ERF gene, which leads to Pythium resistance in the plant grown from such seed.

The present invention relates to genetic elements comprising powdery mildew-conferring QTLs derived from a plant of the species Cucumis melo, or powdery mildew-conferring part or variant thereof. The invention also relates to markers for identification of said QTLs, use thereof and methods for producing plants with increased resistance to powdery mildew and the plants thus obtained.

The present invention provides methods and compositions for identifying, selecting, and/or producing a soybean plant or germplasm resistant to Asian soybean rust using markers, genes and chromosomal intervals derived from Glycine max strain SX6907. Asian soybean rust resistant soybean seeds, plants, and germplasms are also provided.