The invention provides novel methods for liquid-mediated delivery of pollen grains to enclosed stigmas in recipient female flowers. For example, methods for liquid-mediated pollination are provided. The methods provided include collecting pollen from a donor plant, suspending the collected pollen in a liquid solution, and introducing said solution to an enclosed stigma of a recipient flower bud on a recipient plant, thereby pollinating the flower with the pollen from the donor plant.

The present invention provides a polynucleotide which enables the modulation of the seed vigour, and in particular enhances the seed vigour, and more particularly enables the modification of the speed of germination. A plant seed comprising the said polynucleotide is also provided. A method of producing the plant seed, method for improving the germination and vigour of plant seed, transgenic plant and the use of the polynucleotide of the invention for producing plants growing seeds with improved germination and vigour characteristics are also provided. The invention particularly concerns Brassica, more particularly Brassica oleracea.

The invention provides methods and compositions for breeding pepper (Capsicum sp. such as Capsicum annuum) lines, including isogenic and nearly isogenic lines, displaying one or more mature fruit color(s) of interest. Predictive genetic markers and associated sequences and primers, associated with phenotypic diversity at the Ccs locus encoding Capsanthin-Capsorubin Synthase, and the Ze locus encoding Zeaxanthin Epoxidase are also provided, as well as methods for breeding pepper lines. Further provided are pepper plants, and plant parts including seeds, seed mixtures, fruit, and packaged fruit, which display mature fruit color(s) of interest.

Pepper plants exhibiting resistance to root knot nematode species are provided, together with methods of producing, identifying, or selecting plants or germplasm with a root knot nematode resistance phenotype. Such plants include pepper plants comprising introgressed genomic regions conferring pest resistance. Compositions, including novel polymorphic markers for detecting plants comprising introgressed pest resistance alleles, are further provided.

Disclosed are methods of obtaining clonal seeds, methods of plant cloning, methods of screening for maternal plants that produce clonal seeds asexually and methods of increasing yield of clonal seeds. Also disclosed are constructs comprising a nucleic acid that may silence the activity of a RNA-dependent DNA methylation pathway gene. Further disclosed are maternal plants comprising a construct wherein the construct comprises an exogenous nucleic acid sequence, wherein the construct renders the maternal plant defective for RNA-dependent DNA methylation.

The field is related to plant breeding and methods of identifying and selecting plants with resistance to southern corn rust. Provided are methods to identify novel genes that encode proteins providing plant resistance to southern corn rust and uses thereof. These disease resistant genes are useful in the production of resistant plants through breeding, transgenic modification, or genome editing.

The present disclosure is in the field of plant breeding and disease resistance. The disclosure provides methods for breeding corn plants having late wilt (LW) resistance using marker-assisted selection. The disclosure further provides corn germplasm resistant to LW. The disclosure also provides markers associated with LW resistance loci for introgressing these loci into elite germplasm in a breeding program, thus producing novel LW resistant germplasm.

The presently disclosed subject matter relates to using a haploid inducing line (whether existing or created) and transforming the haploid line so that it encodes cellular machinery capable of editing genes. The transformed haploid inducing line is used as a parent in a cross between two plants. During pollination, the parental gametes fuse to form an embryo; and the gene editing machinery is also delivered to the embryo at this time. During embryonic development, one set of parental chromosomes are lost, and the gene editing machinery operates on the remaining set of chromosomes. Thus, at least one haploid progeny with edited genes is produced from the cross. The disclosure is also directed to methods of testing an edited haploid plant progeny for the presence of a first plant's genomic material.

The present invention provides methods and compositions for the identification and selection of soybean plants that comprise a genotype associated with dicamba tolerance. In addition, methods are provided for screening germplasm entries for the performance and expression of this trait.

Disclosed are methods of obtaining clonal seeds, methods of plant cloning, methods of screening for maternal plants that produce clonal seeds asexually and methods of increasing yield of clonal seeds. Also disclosed are constructs comprising a nucleic acid that may silence the activity of a RNA-dependent DNA methylation pathway gene. Further disclosed are maternal plants comprising a construct wherein the construct comprises an exogenous nucleic acid sequence, wherein the construct renders the maternal plant defective for RNA-dependent DNA methylation.