The present invention provides a tobacco plant which is suitable for cultivation for harvesting leaf tobaccos. The present invention includes (i) a tobacco plant in which a mutation for suppressing the development of axillary buds is introduced and (ii) a method of producing the tobacco plant.

A gene LBA5 for regulating lateral shoot angles, growth habits, and a plant architecture of Arachis hypogaea L., and use thereof are provided. In the present disclosure, a major gene LBA5 for controlling lateral shoot angles, growth habits, and a plant architecture of Arachis hypogaea L. is mapped and cloned from Arachis hypogaea L., which includes two homologous genes LBA5b and LBA5a and promoters thereof. The allelic variations of the gene can be selected through crossbreeding and backcrossing to achieve the genetic improvement on an angle between an Arachis hypogaea L. lateral shoot and a main stem. Through a genetic engineering operation for the gene and a change for a promoter sequence of the gene, the function or expression level of this gene in a procumbent Arachis hypogaea L. variety can be adjusted to further regulate an angle between an Arachis hypogaea L. lateral shoot and a main stem.

This invention relates to compositions and methods for modifying root architecture in a plant through modification of an endogenous Ser-Thr protein kinase gene, such as endogenous PHOSPHOROUS STARVATION TOLERANCE 1 (PSTOL1) nucleic acids. The invention further relates to plants produced using the methods and compositions of the invention.

The present invention provides modified (e.g. genetically modified) plant cells and plants, the plants being characterised by an increase in any one or more of: bundle sheath cell numbers, bundle sheath volume, bundle sheath area, vein density, and/or the proportion of lateral veins, as compared to wild-type counterparts.

The present invention relates to a mutant Cullin1 gene which when present in a watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) plant leads to a compact growth phenotype that enables efficient cultivation. The invention also relates to watermelon plants comprising the mutant Cullin1 gene. The mutant Cullin1 gene provides watermelon plants with a compact growth phenotype, i.e. comprising shorter internode length and/or a smaller leaf area when compared to watermelon plants not comprising the mutant Cullin1 gene. The invention further relates to the use of the mutant Cullin1 gene for the identification and development of a plant showing a compact growth phenotype.

This invention relates to compositions and methods for modifying CLAVATA3/EMBRYO SURROUNDING REGION-RELATED (CLV3/ESR-RELATED) (CLE) genes in plants to increase increased kernel row number, optionally without substantially decreasing the length of the ears. The invention further relates to plants having increased kernel row number, optionally without substantially decreasing the length of the ears, produced using the methods and compositions of the invention.

The invention discloses a method for improving rice yield and a protein used thereof. The invention provides a method for cultivating the target rice, comprising the following steps of inhibiting the activity of RAY1 protein in original rice to obtain target rice; compared with the original rice, the target rice shows higher yield and/or larger grain size and/or stronger resistance to rice blast and/or higher plant height and/or longer stem internode length; the RAY1 protein is a protein composed of an amino acid sequence shown as SEQ ID No. 1 in a sequence list. The invention uses CRISPR/Cas9 technology to realize site-directed editing rice RAY1 gene, through knocking out rice RAY1 gene by frameshift mutation, the protein RAY1 is inactivated, and a new generation of rice germplasm with significantly improved yield is obtained.

Aspects of the disclosure relate to plants containing one or more of a mutant sler (Solyc08g061560) gene or a homolog thereof, a mutant sp5g (Solyc05g053850) gene or a homolog thereof and a mutant sp (Solyc06g074350) gene or a homolog thereof, as well as methods of producing such plants. In some aspects, such plants have one or more improved traits, such as modified stem length and modified time for flowering and fruit production.

The present invention generally relates to the field of genetic engineering and obtaining transgenic traits for agronomic applications. More specifically, the present invention relates to a specific transgenic event in agricultural crops that improves plant characteristics. Yet more specifically, the invention relates to a polynucleotide construct comprising a gene from Arabidopsis thaliana. In particular, the polynucleotide construct of the invention comprises the gene AtBBX21 which encodes a B-box protein from Arabidopsis thaliana. The transgenic event of the invention increases green and seed yield, reduces photoinhibition, improves water use efficiency, increases tuber and chlorophyll production and improves photosynthetic rates, among others. The polynucleotide construct of the invention comprises a sequence depicted as SEQ ID NO: 1. The invention also provides a transgenic plant transformed with said polynucleotide construct, wherein said plant exhibits improved characteristics. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the transgenic plant is a potato (Solanum tuberosum) plant that overexpresses a gene from Arabidopsis thaliana, wherein said potato plant exhibits improved characteristics.

A key DNA sequence for regulating a maize leaf angle and a mutant thereof are provided, which have polynucleotide sequences shown in SEQ ID No. 1 and SEQ ID No. 2, respectively. The DNA sequence for regulating a maize leaf angle and the mutant thereof provided by present disclosure can regulate the expression of ZmNAC16 gene in a maize pulvinus, and thus can be used for the improvement of maize leaf angle and plant type and further for the cultivation of new maize varieties. The present disclosure further provides specific detection primers for detecting mutations of the DNA key sequence and the mutant, and detection primers for detecting an expression level of ZmNAC16 gene in maize. These detection primers can be used to directionally improve a maize leaf angle and also shows application potential for breeding of dense-planting-tolerant and high-yield maize.