The present invention relates to a plant belonging to the Solanaceae family wherein said plant comprises a genetic trait providing Phytophthora resistance and wherein said resistance trait is encoded by a combination of at least two genes having a reduced expression, or transcription, of said genes or a reduced activity of proteins encoded by said genes as compared to said plant belonging to Solanaceae family being susceptible to Phytophthora. The present invention especially relates to plants belonging to the Solanaceae family selected from the group consisting of sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum), Capsicum spp., potato (Solanum tuberosum), petunia, tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), Nicotinia benthamiana, and tabacco (Nicotinia tabacum), and the present Phytophthora resistance is especially a resistance to a plant pathogen selected from the group consisting of Phytophthora spp., Phytophthora capsici, Phytophthora infestans, and Phytophthora nicotinae.

The present invention discloses RNAi constructs derived from a Fusarium chitin synthase gene Chs3b, which has a nucleotide sequence as shown by SEQ ID NO: 1. Five distinct RNAi vectors are constructed for 5 different segments of the Chs3b gene (named Chs3b-1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, respectively), and separately transformed into Fusarium. It is found that siRiNAs in the transformed Fusarium shows a significant inhibition in fungal growth, development, and pathogenicity. The expression of the RNAi vectors against Chs3b in plants may inhibit the infection of Fusarium and improve the resistance of the transgenic plants to Fusarium head blight.

A Stevia extract made from leaves of the Stevia rebaudiana plant is described. The extract has desired levels of steviol glycosides and is useful in food, beverage, and other consumable products.

The invention relates to plants with increased resistance to plant pathogens, wherein the intracellular concentration of inositol pyrophosphate InsP.sub.7 and/or InsP.sub.8 in said plants is increased in comparison to the wild-type plant. In particular, the invention involves plants with increased expression of at least one protein involved in the synthesis of inositol pyrophosphates InsP.sub.7 and/or InsP.sub.8, such as, for example, proteins VIH2 and VIH1. The plants according to the invention are particularly resistant to the following plant pathogens: herbivore insects, for example larvae of agriculturally relevant pests, pathogenic fungi, such as necrotrophic fungi, or other plant pests, such as biotrophic pathogens. The invention further relates to the method for increasing plant resistance to plant pathogens, wherein the intracellular concentration of inositol pyrophosphates InsP.sub.7 and/or InsP.sub.8 is increased in comparison to the wild-type plant.

The field is molecular biology, and more specifically, methods for chromosomal engineering of multiple native genes, such as disease resistance genes in a genomic locus using site-specific editing to produce plants. Also described herein are methods of generating heterologous genomic locus in a plant that comprises a plurality of intraspecies polynucleotide sequences.

A protein provided is: a) a protein with an amino acid sequence as shown in amino acids 1-264 of SEQ ID NO: 1; b) a protein that is associated with disease resistance and obtained after an amino acid sequence as shown in amino acids 1-264 of SEQ ID NO: 1 in a Sequence Listing is subjected to substitution and/or deletion and/or addition of one or several amino acid residues; c) a protein with an amino acid sequence as shown in SEQ ID NO: 1; or d) a protein that is associated with disease resistance and obtained after the amino acid sequence as shown in SEQ ID NO: 1 in the Sequence Listing is subjected to substitution and/or deletion and/or addition of one or several amino acid residues. Experiments demonstrate that the protein associated with disease resistance and the encoding gene thereof can be used to enhance plant disease resistance.

The present invention relates to a method for modifying the resistance profile of a spinach plant to Peronospora farinosa f. sp. spinaciae, comprising introducing a WOLF allele or a resistance-conferring part thereof into the genome of said spinach plant, or modifying an endogenous WOLF allele in the genome of said spinach plant. The invention further provides a method for selecting a spinach plant comprising a novel WOLF gene that confers resistance to Peronospora farinosa f. sp. spinaciae in a spinach plant and a method for identifying a WOLF allele that confers resistance to one or more pathogenic races of Peronospora farinosa f. sp. spinaciae in a spinach plant and to primers for use in these methods.

Compositions and method of delivering a molecule to a plant are provided. In an embodiment, an avenic acid transporter is introduced into a plant. The plant may be a non-graminacious or dicotyledonous plant which does not comprise the transporter in the wild type form. The transporter may be modified to increase uptake of avenic acid along with iron chelated by the avenic acid and/or a molecule conjugated with the avenic acid. Further embodiments provide for conjugating the avenic acid with a molecule for uptake and delivery to the plant. In this manner plant health may be improved by uptake of iron where it would otherwise not occur and/or uptake of the conjugated molecule. The molecule may be a molecule that improves health of the plant. Still further embodiments provide for analogs of avenic acid. Embodiments provide for interplanting Avena sativa which natively produces avenic acid with another plant. Additional embodiments provide for time release of avenic acid provided to a plant.

The present invention relates to the field of plant breeding and disease resistance. More specifically, the invention includes a method for breeding corn plants containing quantitative trait loci that are associated with diplodia ear rot (DER), a fungal disease associated with Stenocarpella spp. The invention further includes germplasm and the use of germplasm containing quantitative trait loci (QTL) conferring resistance for introgression into elite germplasm in a breeding program for resistance to DER.

Provided are compositions and methods relating to gene and/or protein mutations in plants. In certain embodiments, the disclosure relates to mutations in the allene oxide synthase 2 gene (i.e., AOS2). In some embodiments the disclosure relates to plants that are pathogen resistant.