Described herein are methods for producing guayule seeds, guayule plants, and products generated therefrom. More specifically, the disclosure provides methods for the production of viable seeds from apomictic guayule plants, seeds produced by such methods, plants grown from such seeds, plant parts, biomass, and biomaterials derived therefrom.

The present invention relates to a parthenocarpic cucumber fruit (Cucumis sativus L.) having a small seed cavity. A parthenocarpic cucumber fruit (Cucumis sativus L.) having a small seed cavity has a lower total moisture content. Two QTLs have been identified that either alone or in combination lead to the phenotype of having a small seed cavity. The invention further relates to a cucumber plant comprising one of the QTLs or a combination of both QTLs, which cucumber plant is capable of producing parthenocarpic fruits that have a small seed cavity. The invention also relates to markers for identifying the QTLs.

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.

Compositions and methods are capable of modulating male fertility in a plant. Compositions comprise polynucleotides and polypeptides, and fragments and variants thereof, which modulate male fertility. Expression cassettes comprise a male-fertility polynucleotide, or fragment or variant thereof, operably linked to a promoter, wherein expression of the polynucleotide modulates the male fertility of a plant. The level and/or activity of a polynucleotide that influences male fertility is modulated in a plant or plant part. Regulatory sequences drive expression in a male-tissue-preferred manner and may be targets to downregulate an operably linked gene. Methods to track mutations that induce nuclear recessive male sterility in subsequent selfing and crossing of wheat lines containing the mutations are also provided. Male-sterile plants may be maintained by pollinating with a maintainer plant.

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.

Disclosed is a method for producing three-line hybrid wheat parent foundation seeds, including: determining whether sterile-line head progeny rows satisfy 100% sterile degree index of a sterile line or not by bagged selfing of the sterile-line head progeny rows, separately harvesting the bagged outcrossed heads satisfying the index to achieve cyclic breeding of sterile-line spike lines, and mixedly harvesting the sterile-line head progeny rows satisfying the index for sterile-line foundation seed plots; conducting test crossing on the separately harvested bagged outcrossed head seeds and the restorer-line head progeny rows, correspondingly numbering the restorer-line head progeny rows and bagged test-crossed heads, and separately harvesting bagged test-crossed seeds; conducting yield comparison on the separately harvested bagged test-crossed seeds, taking a part of preserved restorer-line head progeny row seeds meeting the requirement for cyclic breeding of restorer-line spike lines, and then planting the rest in restorer-line foundation seed plots.

The present disclosure relates to materials and methods useful for improving the efficacy of a plant breeding program such as, for example, the method for producing hybrid seeds in a facultative apomictic crop species, which in turns are useful for, for example, commercial production of highly uniform hybrid progeny. Hybrid seeds produced by such improved breeding methods, and plant grown from such hybrid seeds are also within the scope of the present invention. The disclosure further relates to processes for making a plant-derived product derived from any of the foregoing hybrid plants, and plant-derived products produced by such processes.

Compositions and methods are capable of modulating male fertility in a plant. Compositions comprise polynucleotides and polypeptides, and fragments and variants thereof, which modulate male fertility. Expression cassettes comprise a male-fertility polynucleotide, or fragment or variant thereof, operably linked to a promoter, wherein expression of the polynucleotide modulates the male fertility of a plant. The level and/or activity of a polynucleotide that influences male fertility is modulated in a plant or plant part. Regulatory sequences drive expression in a male-tissue-preferred manner and may be targets to downregulate an operably linked gene. Methods to track mutations that induce nuclear recessive male sterility in subsequent selfing and crossing of wheat lines containing the mutations are also provided. Male-sterile plants may be maintained by pollinating with a maintainer plant.

The present invention discloses wild type genes that upon their down regulation unequivocally induce AES formation in sexual plants. Photomicrographs of apospory in the down regulated germplasm meet all four criteria. The identified genes and methods may be used as part of a genetic engineering strategy to convert sexual crops to apomixis, which will reduce costs of hybrid seed production for crops currently grown as hybrids and will allow crops currently grown as inbred varieties, due to prohibitively high hybrid seed production costs, to be grown as superior yielding hybrids. The disclosure concerns methods of inducing unreduced aposporous or diplosporous embryo sac formation in a sexual angiosperm comprising modifying the expression level of one or more genes.

The present inventions relate to a breeding system for the production of polyploid potato seeds, plants, or plant parts where cycles of meiosis, syngamy, and selection are used for interpopulation improvement of progenitor lines, and sexual polyploidization occurs during hybrid production by inducing clonal gamete formation in the parents that are to be crossed. Reciprocal recurrent selection can be used to inform selection of candidate potato lines that are either advanced to a gene editing or genetic modification system or crossed and selected to induce clonal gamete formation by arresting meiotic recombination and chromosome reduction. Crosses of parent plants bearing clonal gametes are planned and executed based upon predicted heterotic performance at the polyploid level. The final product is a homogeneous population of hybrid polyploid potato seed, or derivative thereof, bearing both parents' complete nuclear genomes. In some instances, the method is used to generate seedless plants.