This invention is intended to evaluate smut resistance with higher accuracy using a marker associated with sugarcane smut resistance, which consists of a continuous nucleic acid region existing in a region between the nucleotide sequence as shown in SEQ ID NO: 1 and the nucleotide sequence as shown in SEQ ID NO: 6, a region between the nucleotide sequence as shown in SEQ ID NO: 135 and the nucleotide sequence as shown in SEQ ID NO: 143, or a region between the nucleotide sequence as shown in SEQ ID NO: 144 or 145 and the nucleotide sequence as shown in SEQ ID NO: 151 of a sugarcane chromosome.

The invention discloses proteins and biological materials related to rice (Oryza sativa L.) yield, and use thereof in increasing rice yield. The protein related to rice yield disclosed by the invention is OsDREB1C having SEQ ID NO: 1 in the Sequence Listing as its sequence, and having SEQ ID NO: 2 in the Sequence Listing as its coding gene sequence. Experiments have demonstrated that OsDREB1C and the associated biological materials thereof of the invention can enhance the photosynthetic efficiency of a plant, promote nitrogen uptake and transport and increase the nitrogen content in the plant and in its grains, promote earlier heading, and improve yield. The OsDREB1C and the associated biological materials thereof of the invention are of great biological significance and industrial value, and find bright prospects for application.

Disclosed is a method for breeding self-compatible potatoes, including the following steps: (1) selecting a self-compatible potato variety material and referring to it as PG6359, and cloning the S-RNase gene of PG6359 through the transcriptome sequencing method; and (2) obtaining two full-length sequences of the S-RNase gene from the cloned S-RNase gene in step (1) and referring to them as S.sub.s11 and S.sub.s12 respectively, and after carrying out an artificial self-pollination for the variety material PG6359, selecting the variety material having the genotype of S.sub.s11S.sub.s11 from the offspring as the female parent, and selecting a self-incompatible material as the male parent, and then obtaining a self-compatible F.sub.1 generation by hybridization. The invention overcomes the self-incompatibility of diploid potatoes, and does not require the introduction of any wild potato gene fragments, thereby avoiding linkage drag, and providing a basis for the rapid creation of a diploid potato inbred line.

Non-transgenic and transgenic plants, preferably crop plants, comprising at least one mutation of the KINTEOCHORE NULL2 (KNL2) protein, especially a mutation causing a substitution of an amino acid within the KNL2 protein, preferably within the C-terminal region of the KNL2 protein, which preferably have the biological activity of a haploid inducer. Further are methods of generating plants and haploid and double haploid plants obtainable by crossing non-transgenic and transgenic plants with wildtype plants as well as methods of facilitating cytoplasm exchange.

The present invention relates to a genetic marker for determining the presence or absence of one or more QTLs conferring a reduced pyruvate level in an Allium cepa plant or plant part, wherein the marker is selected from the group consisting of a marker linked to a reduced pyruvate conferring QTL located on chromosome 2, a marker linked to a reduced pyruvate conferring QTL located on chromosome 1 and a marker linked to a reduced pyruvate conferring QTL located on chromosome 7. The present invention further relates to the use of the marker of the invention for determining the presence or absence of one or more QTLs conferring a reduced pyruvate level in an Allium cepa plant or plant part. The present invention further relates to a method for identifying and/or selecting an Allium cepa plant or plant part comprising determining in said plant or plant part the presence or absence of one or more markers of the invention. The present invention relates to isolated nucleic acid and the use of the nucleotide sequences as provided herein for marker assisted selection of an Allium cepa plant or plant part.

The present disclosure provides Brassica oleracea plants exhibiting broad spectrum resistance to Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris. Such plants may comprise novel introgressed genomic regions associated with disease resistance from Brassica oleracea var. capitata. In certain aspects, compositions, including novel polymorphic markers and methods for producing, breeding, identifying, and selecting plants or germplasm with a disease resistance phenotype are provided.

Various methods and compositions are provided for identifying and/or selecting a sorghum plant or germplasm with or without a cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) trait. In certain embodiments, the method comprises detecting at least one allele of one or more marker locus within or linked to a QTL associated with CMS. In further embodiments, the method comprises crossing a selected sorghum plant with a recurrent sorghum parent plant and selecting progeny with CMS.

Methods for conveying pathogen resistance into non-resistant soybean germplasm are provided. In some embodiments, the methods include introgressing pathogen resistance into a non-resistant soybean using one or more nucleic acid markers for marker-assisted breeding among soybean lines to be used in a soybean breeding program, wherein the markers are linked to and/or associated with pathogen resistance. Also provided are single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with resistance to pathogens; soybean plants, seeds, and tissue cultures produced by any of the disclosed methods; seed produced by the disclosed soybean plants; and compositions including amplification primer pairs capable of initiating DNA polymerization by a DNA polymerase on soybean nucleic acid templates to generate soybean marker amplicons.

The present invention concerns an isolated polynucleotide responsible of haploid induction in maize plants and related processes. Additionally, the invention relates to plants that have been genetically transformed with the polynucleotide of the invention. The invention also relates to a process for screening a mutant plant population for enhanced haploid induction by using said isolated polynucleotide. The invention further relates to molecular markers associated with haploid induction in maize plants and their use in quality control for inducer lines.

The invention relates to a method to improve breeding in dioecious plants, preferably Asparagus plants, comprising providing a plant in which the functional expression of the dominant suppressor of gynoecium development is disrupted or reduced and introducing said plant in inbreeding, backcross breeding, recurrent backcross breeding or double haploid breeding techniques. Preferably said dominant suppressor of gynoecium development is a gene comprising a DUF247 domain. Also provided are dioeciuos plants in which the expression of this gene is disrupted or reduced.