Methods for hybridizing members of the Theobroma genus, and particularly to methods for hybridizing Theobroma cacao and Theobroma grandiflorum are provided. Hybrid seeds, plants and plant parts thereof, obtained from these methods are also provided. Methods for confirming that the resulting progeny are hybrids are described. Theobroma hybrid plant products, such as seeds obtained by crossing Theobroma cacao and Theobroma grandiflorum, having modified chemical compositions, such as modified fatty acid content, and/or modified alkaloid content, are provided. Products obtainable from the hybrid plants and seeds, particularly foodstuffs such as cocoa products, are also provided.

Helianthus annuus are susceptible to powdery mildew caused by fungi in the order Erysiphales. The present invention relates to novel Helianthus interspecific hybrids containing a genetic resistance to powdery mildew. The present invention also relates to methods for creating novel Helianthus interspecific hybrids containing a genetic resistance to powdery mildew and Helianthus interspecific hybrids produced by the method.

The present invention relates to a method for genetically modifying the genome of a hybrid plant by replacing one or more of its chromosomes or chromosome fragments with the corresponding chromosome or chromosome fragment of one or more donor parents. The invention uses the reverse breeding technique to construct a novel type of substitution and introgression libraries that can be used for accelerated breeding and hybrid correction. These libraries and their use are also part of this invention.

The invention relates to a Solanum lycopersicum plant comprising in its genome, on chromosome 1, introgressed sequences from Solanum habrochaites, wherein said introgressed sequences confer to the plant an improved phenotype corresponding to both an increased yield and an increased amount of soluble sugars allocated to fruits (Brix*Yield), with respect to a corresponding plant devoid of said sequences, and wherein said introgressed sequences are chosen from those present in the genome of a plant of the seeds ToPATYIELD NCIMB accession number 42567. The introgressed sequences are preferably characterized by defined alleles of different SNPs. on chromosome 1, inter alia allele T of SNP IL2_3605 (SEQ ID No. 9) and/or allele A of IL2_6411 (SEQ ID No. 12). The invention is also directed to parts of these plants with improved phenotype, as well as progeny, to the use of these plants for introgressing the improved phenotype in another genetic background, as well as to different methods for obtaining tomato plants or seeds with increased yield and brix*yield.

The invention provides methods for producing seeds in watermelon. In one embodiment methods are provided comprising grafting of a seed parent onto a stress tolerant rootstock, pollinating the seed parent with pollen from a pollen donor, and cultivating the seed parent until seed is formed. In specific embodiments, triploid seeds produced by a method of the invention are rendered conspicuously distinguishable from tetraploid seeds, and thus readily selected manually or by an automated machine. Methods for increasing seed yield and/or quality are also provided.

Provided are tomato plants having fruit with red and yellow segments that appear across the fruit from the internal seed area to the most external layer of the epidermis. The present invention discloses that this phenotype, designated Arlecchino, is linked to insertion mutation within the Phytoene synthase 1 (Psy1) gene.

The present invention relates to a hybrid between a leek and a garlic plant. More specifically, the invention relates to an interspecific hybrid plants resulting from a cross between an Allium ampeloprasum plant and an Allium sativum plant. Specifically, the present invention relates to Interspecific hybrid plants derived from a cross between an Allium ampeloprasum plant and an Allium sativum plant, wherein the hybrid plants are capable of producing seed and contains nuclear genomic material derived from both said Allium ampeloprasum plant and said Allium sativum plant, and further wherein the interspecific hybrid plants contain at least 250 mg/kg of allicin when determined in the white part of the leaf sheet of the plants and furthermore wherein the interspecific hybrid plants are obtainable, obtained or derived, from an interspecific hybrid plant as deposited under accession number NCIMB 42564.

The present invention relates to materials and methods for creating and maintaining a cereal plant line for the production of a hybrid cereal plant, that include for example, and not limitation, using the BLue Aleurone (BLA) system.

The present invention discloses a breeding method and application of a new downy mildew-resistant interspecific hybrid Cucumis sativus variety. The breeding method comprises the following steps: performing hybridization to obtain F1 with the high-generation inbred line CCMC of Changchun dense thorn Cucumis sativus as a female parent and a Cucumis sativus-Cucumis hystrix introgression line material IL52 as a male parent, selfing the hybrid F1 to obtain F2, and continuously constructing an F6 recombinant inbred line by the single seed transfer method; and by identifying of phenotypes of the recombinant inbred line populations during the natural inoculation of downy mildew at the adult plant stage in the field for 4 years, recombinant individuals with high resistance and good fruit marketability will be screened; and utilizing backcrossing and molecular marker-assisted selection to obtain the individuals as the new downy mildew-resistant interspecific hybrid Cucumis sativus variety in which the genotype in the dm5.2 region coincides with the banding pattern of IL52 and the other chromosome regions are the banding pattern of Changchun dense thorn Cucumis sativus. The new variety has a high downy mildew-resistant trait, high yield and excellent fruit quality.

The invention provides methods for producing seeds in watermelon. In one embodiment methods are provided comprising grafting of a seed parent onto a stress tolerant rootstock, pollinating the seed parent with pollen from a pollen donor, and cultivating the seed parent until seed is formed. In specific embodiments, triploid seeds produced by a method of the invention are rendered conspicuously distinguishable from tetraploid seeds, and thus readily selected manually or by an automated machine. Methods for increasing seed yield and/or quality are also provided.