Systems for plant culture include a chamber featuring one or more walls enclosing a spatial volume internal to the chamber, where the one or more walls include a surface for supporting a plant within the enclosed spatial volume, a gas delivery apparatus with at least one gas source, a nutrient delivery apparatus with a reservoir, a sampling apparatus connected to a port formed in the one or more walls, and a controller configured so that during operation of the system, the controller activates the nutrient delivery apparatus to deliver an aqueous growth medium to the plant, and activates the gas delivery apparatus to deliver into the enclosed spatial volume a mixture of isotopically-substituted gases. Also provided are methods of use of the system for measuring nitrogen in a plant and for identifying microbes capable of providing fixed nitrogen to a plant.

Higher LOG L1 transcript abundance correlates with lower grain weight under HNT stress. This is supported by higher grain weight of log l1 mutants relative to wild type plants under HNT stress. This finding provides a genetic resource to increase rice adaptation to warming nights. This disclosure describes a novel nucleic acid sequence that, when expressed in a plant (e.g., rice), regulates grain weight and grain number. This disclosure also describes mutant plants and transgenic plants.

Disclosed implementations for improving crop yield in arid environments. Implementations include a method comprising selecting a cover crop adapted to absorb one or more of atmospheric or soil moisture for storage in an underground portion of the cover crop, and planting the selected cover crop in a particular tract of land at a first time instance. The method additionally includes controllably terminating growth of the cover crop at a second time instance, subsequent to the first time instance, to initiate a decay phase of the cover crop to cause transfer of the moisture absorbed in the underground portion of the cover crop to soil of the tract of land, and planting a primary crop in the tract of land at a third time instance, the primary crop absorbing from the soil at least some of the moisture released during the decay phase of the cover crop.

Disclosed implementations for improving crop yield in arid environments. Implementations include a method comprising selecting a cover crop adapted to absorb one or more of atmospheric or soil moisture for storage in an underground portion of the cover crop, and planting the selected cover crop in a particular tract of land at a first time instance. The method additionally includes controllably terminating growth of the cover crop at a second time instance, subsequent to the first time instance, to initiate a decay phase of the cover crop to cause transfer of the moisture absorbed in the underground portion of the cover crop to soil of the tract of land, and planting a primary crop in the tract of land at a third time instance, the primary crop absorbing from the soil at least some of the moisture released during the decay phase of the cover crop.

Provided are improved herbicide tolerant Beta vulgaris hybrid plants and parts thereof, particularly improved hybrid sugar beet or fodder beet plants, with increased yield performance, while maintaining optimal and agronomically relevant herbicide tolerance, wherein both parent plants are derived by introgression of the herbicide tolerance gene from a single herbicide resistance donor genotype. Further provided are Beta vulgaris parent plants useful for obtaining such hybrid plants, markers for identifying such improved herbicide tolerant Beta vulgaris plants, as well methods for obtaining and identifying such improved herbicide tolerant Beta vulgaris hybrid plants.

The invention relates to methods of characterizing a Cannabis spp. plant comprising quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with a hermaphroditism trait, and to methods of producing plants having a hermaphroditism trait of interest based on defined allelic states of polymorphisms defining the QTLs or the allelic state of a causal polymorphism provided herein. Also provided are Cannabis spp. plants with the hermaphroditism trait of interest comprising defined allelic states of polymorphisms and plants identified, characterized or produced by the methods described. Further provided are methods of marker assisted selection, genomic selection, marker assisted breeding, and genetic modification, for obtaining plants having a hermaphroditism trait of interest.

The invention relates to methods of increasing plant yield, and in particular grain or seed number by introducing at least one mutation into at least one UPL2 gene. Also described are genetically altered plants characterised by the above phenotype.

A method of enhancing grain yield of a Gramineae plant is provided. The method comprises: (a) crossing a recipient plant with a donor plant comprising a sequence variation in a TPR allele, said sequence variation imparting enhanced grain yield; and (b) selecting a progeny plant of said crossing comprising said sequence variation by identifying said variation, said progeny plant being characterized by an improved grain yield relative to said recipient plant. Also provided are plants and processed products resultant of the method.

Systems for plant culture include a chamber featuring one or more walls enclosing a spatial volume internal to the chamber, where the one or more walls include a surface for supporting a plant within the enclosed spatial volume, a gas delivery apparatus with at least one gas source, a nutrient delivery apparatus with a reservoir, a sampling apparatus connected to a port formed in the one or more walls, and a controller configured so that during operation of the system, the controller activates the nutrient delivery apparatus to deliver an aqueous growth medium to the plant, and activates the gas delivery apparatus to deliver into the enclosed spatial volume a mixture of isotopically-substituted gases. Also provided are methods of use of the system for measuring nitrogen in a plant and for identifying microbes capable of providing fixed nitrogen to a plant.

The present disclosure discloses a method for breeding a recessive genetic male sterile line of a sporophyte. The method comprises the following steps: linking a sporophyte male fertile gene Y, a down-regulation expression element Xi of an endogenous gametophyte male fertile gene, a herbicide A resistance gene A.sup.R, a down-regulation element Bi of a herbicide B resistance gene, and an anthocyanin gene C or a down-regulation element Ci thereof, and transferring the linked genes into a sterile mutant of the sporophyte fertile gene Y, and pollinating a sterile plant with a positive plant to breed a genetic sterile line of a sporophyte. The method is universal and suitable for all plants, can obtain a genetic sterile line of a sporophyte with a sterile plant rate of 100%, reduce a cost for separating a sterile line from a maintainer line, identify purity intuitively, rapidly, accurately, and economically at an early stage.