Methods are described for selecting or producing a cereal plant comprising functional restorer genes for wheat G-type cytoplasmic male sterility and nucleic acids for use therein.

This invention describes a new method to generate rice seed. The process involves the delivery of pollen of the male parent at will, as available either in a preserved pollen bank, or using real-time collection from male plants as they become available. Desired pollen is delivered to fertile females during the period when viable pollen from the females and locally proximal unrelated plants is not being released. The delivered male pollen is in such amounts and fortuitously timed that it preferentially pollinates the females. Such fortuitous timing may involve the intentional application of pollen to females a day or two prior to female parent pollen becoming viable, and/or during several periods wherein female parent pollen and/or other proximal plant pollen is not being shed.

A newly identified protein that is encoded by a polynucleotide sequence associated with cytoplasmic male sterility restorer activity (Rf3) is described. The cytoplasmic male sterility restorer gene can be inserted through breeding introgression into plant genomes to restore cytoplasmic male sterility in plants. Further applications of the newly identified polynucleotide sequence associated with cytoplasmic male sterility restorer activity include a mutation (rf3) which results in cytoplasmic male sterility. The cytoplasmic male sterility restorer gene can be inserted through breeding introgression into plant genomes to result in cytoplasmic male sterility in plants. Methods for detecting the cytoplasmic male sterility restorer (Rf3) and the cytoplasmic male sterility (rf3) gene sequences are further described.

The present disclosure provides a method for selecting a plant comprising a functional restorer gene for maize S-type cytoplasmic male sterility comprising the steps of (a) screening a population of plants for at least one marker nucleic acid, wherein the marker nucleic acid comprises an allele linked to the functional restorer gene for maize S-type cytoplasmic male sterility; (b) detecting the marker nucleic acid; (c) identifying a plant comprising the marker nucleic acid; and (d) selecting the plant comprising the marker nucleic acid, wherein the plant comprising the marker nucleic acid further comprises the functional restorer gene for maize S-type cytoplasmic male sterility. The present disclosure also provides methods for restoring fertility in a progeny of an S-type cytoplasmic male sterile plant and methods for transferring an Rf3 gene into a progeny plant.

Methods are described for selecting or producing a cereal plant comprising a functional restorer gene for wheat G-type cytoplasmic male sterility and nucleic acids for use therein.

Methods are provided for hybrid seed production using 3-phyletic crosses between female, maintainer and male, particularly restorer lines, wherein the trait is introduced in the female line only at the stage of basic seed production via crossing of the female line with a maintainer line containing the gene or genes encoding the trait in homozygous state.

The present invention relates to non-transgenic and transgenic plants, preferably crop plants, having biological activity of a haploid inducer and comprising a polynucleotide which comprises a nucleotide sequence encoding a centromer histone H3 (CENH3) protein, wherein the polynucleotide comprises at least one mutation causing an alteration of the amino acid sequence of the CENH3 protein, and to a part of the part. Further, the invention provides methods of generating the inducer plants, methods of generating haploid and double haploid plants using the inducer plants as well as methods of facilitating cytoplasm exchange.

The methods and compositions described herein relate to maintainer lines (e.g, male-fertile lines) for fertilizing male-sterile plants and, due to their pollen not containing any expressed male-fertility gene, permitting the production or propagation of plants with a maintained male-sterile phenotype.

The present invention provides methods and composition for preparing seeds that when cultivated produce pepper plants with seedless fruits. These plants may further be male sterile and contain a stable non-Peterson Cytoplasmic Male Sterility (CMS). The invention also provides essentially pure populations of seed that, when grown, produce pepper plants with seedless fruit. Methods are provided comprising crossing a stable non-Peterson CMS plant as a female parent with pepper lines displaying a parthenocarpy trait. The invention also includes the seeds produced by such a method. Methods for breeding and using seedless pepper plants for enhancing the production of fruit under suboptimal temperature conditions are also provided.

The present invention relates to methods and compositions for identifying, selecting and/or producing a maize plant or plant part having increased fertility. A maize plant or plant part that has been identified, selected and/or produced by any of the methods of the present invention is also provided.