A peptide comprised of either a binary or a tertiary peptide, the peptide contains at least 4 amino acids and up to a maximum of 16 amino acids, comprised of 2 or 3 different regions, wherein the binary peptides have 2 different regions and the tertiary peptides have 3 different regions; wherein, the peptide can be cleaved by both an animal gut protease and an insect or nematode gut protease.

Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) plants exhibiting resistance to downy mildew disease caused by Bremia lactucae are provided, together with methods of producing, identifying, or selecting plants or germplasm with a downy mildew resistance phenotype. Such plants include lettuce plants comprising introgressed genomic regions conferring pest resistance. Compositions, including novel polymorphic markers for detecting plants comprising introgressed loci, are further provided.

Disclosed are agents, compositions and methods of treating or controlling Botrytis infection particularly in plants. Certain agents include polynucleotide molecules that induce RNAi when administered to B. cinerea fungal cells. In particular embodiments, compositions include a fungicidally effective amount of a polynucleotide comprising at least 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 50, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 350, 400, 450, 500, 550, 575, or 600 contiguous nucleotides that are essentially complementary to or comprises at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 98%, about 100%, or 100% sequence identity with a segment of a DNA or target gene of B. cinerea, or an RNA transcribed from the DNA or target gene.

The present invention provides novel compositions for use to enhance crop performance. Specifically, the present invention provides for delayed senescence and/or improved yield enhancement in various crops. The present invention also provides for combinations of compositions and methods that provide for delayed senescence and/or improved yield.

The present disclosure is in the field of plant breeding and disease resistance. A method for the development of a corn plant enhanced for resistance to Colletotrichum graminicola and secondarily to Fusarium spp., both of which incite stalk rot disease, is provided. Also provided is a method to identify corn plants with polynucleotide sequences identified to serve as diagnostic markers for resistance to these pathogens. Further described is the introgression of desired genetic material from one or more parent plants into progeny with precision and accuracy to increase their resistance to these diseases with minimal linkage drag from the donor genome.

The present invention lies in the field of plant protection, in particular in the field of controlling plant pests and pathogens that affect plants. The present invention relates to a plant comprising a plastid comprising a double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) capable of silencing at least one target gene of a pest of a plant or of an agent causing a disease of a plant. The present invention further relates to such a transplastomic plant, wherein said dsRNA comprises two (separate) complementary single-stranded RNA strands. The present invention further relates to a plastid as comprised in the plant of the invention and to a plant cell comprising said plastid. Moreover, the present invention relates to a method of producing a plant of the invention and to a method of controlling a pest of a plant or a plant disease-causing agent or of protecting a plant from said pest or agent. Furthermore, the present invention relates to the use of a dsRNA for controlling a pest of a plant or a plant disease-causing agent or for protecting a plant from said pest or agent.

The present invention relates to the field of plant breeding. More specifically, the present invention includes a method of using haploid plants for genetic mapping of traits of interest such as disease resistance. Further, the invention includes a method for breeding corn plants containing quantitative trait loci (QTL) that are associated with resistance to Goss' Wilt, a bacterial disease associated with Clavibacter michiganense spp.

This invention relates to compositions and methods for modifying LOX genes and inmaize plants to increase resistance to ear rot and/or stalk rot disease. The invention further relates to plants having increased resistance to ear rot and/or stalk rot produced using the methods and compositions of the invention.

A method for the transformation of sugar beet protoplasts includes obtaining protoplasts from stomatal guard cells isolated from a sugar beet plant. The protoplasts are transformed with a nucleic acid construct including a nucleotide sequence of interest and a selection marker sequence. One or more ALS inhibitors at a concentration that is lethal to the in vitro culture of the protoplasts are applied to an in vitro culture of the protoplasts. Sugar beet plants are regenerated from the surviving protoplasts having integrated the nucleic acid construct including the sequence of interest and the selection marker sequence. The selection marker sequence is the mutated BvALS113 sequence carrying in its sequence a mutation at amino acid 113 position from Alanine to Tyrosine.

The invention relates to synthetic plant miRNA precursor molecules that are resistant to processing in plants but functional in plant pests. The invention further relates to methods for using the synthetic plant miRNA precursor molecules to protect plants against pests.