The present invention includes compositions and methods of modulating the length of one or more cotton fibers in a plant by contacting the plant or tissue derived therefrom with at least one of: a nucleotide; a modulator of ectoapyrase gene transcription; or an anti-ectoapyrase antibody or fragments thereof, at a concentration that modulates growth of one or more cotton fibers.

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 provides molecular constructs and methods for use thereof, including constructs including heterologous miRNA recognition sites, constructs for gene suppression including a gene suppression element embedded within an intron flanked on one or on both sides by non-protein-coding sequence, constructs containing engineered miRNA or miRNA precursors, and constructs for suppression of production of mature microRNA in a cell. Also provided are transgenic plant cells, plants, and seeds containing such constructs, and methods for their use. The invention further provides transgenic plant cells, plants, and seeds containing recombinant DNA for the ligand-controlled expression of a target sequence, which may be endogenous or exogenous. Also disclosed are novel miRNAs and miRNA precursors from crop plants including maize and soy.

The invention provides DNA molecules and constructs, and their nucleotide sequences, useful for modulating gene expression in plants, and for specifying intracellular or extracellular localization of a gene product of interest. Transgenic plants, plant cells, plant parts, and seeds, comprising the DNA molecules operably linked to heterologous transcribable polynucleotides are also provided.

Provided are constructs and methods for expressing a transgene in plant cells and/or plant tissues using gene regulatory elements obtained from Brassica napus.

Disclosed herein are methods of controlling insect pests, in particular Leptinotarsa spp. which infest crop plants, and methods of providing plants resistant to such pests. Also disclosed are polynucleotides and recombinant DNA molecules and constructs useful in such methods, insecticidal compositions such as topical sprays containing insecticidal double-stranded RNAs, and solanaceous plants with improved resistance to infestation by Leptinotarsa spp. Further disclosed are methods of selecting target genes for RNAi-mediated silencing and control of Leptinotarsa spp.

The present invention is directed to plants that display an improved oil quantity phenotype or an improved meal quality phenotype due to altered expression of an HIO nucleic acid. The invention is further directed to methods of generating plants with an improved oil quantity phenotype or improved meal quality phenotype.

Transgenic plants that have enhanced yield-related traits, such as increased seed oil production, are produced by genetically engineering the plants to down-regulate the expression of at least one BPM protein. Such transgenic plants can, for example, be cultivated and yield higher seed oil production than control plants which have not been genetically engineered for down regulation of a BPM protein.

Compositions and methods for improving plant growth are provided herein. Polynucleotides encoding DUF2996 domain-containing protein s, polypeptides encompassing DUF2996 domain-containing protein s, and expression constructs for expressing genes of interest whose expression may improve agronomic properties including but not limited to crop yield, biotic and abiotic stress tolerance, and early vigor, plants comprising the polynucleotides, polypeptides, and expression constructs, and methods of producing transgenic plants are also provided.

Isolated polynucleotides and polypeptides encoded thereby are described, together with the use of those products for making transgenic plants with increased tolerance to abiotic stress (e.g., high or low temperature, drought, flood).