It was found that plants with loss of functional Msi2 protein due to a nucleotide polymorphism resulting in the introduction of a premature stop codon in the Msi2 protein, are able to induce haploid offspring after a cross to or with a wild type plant comprising a functional Msi2 protein. The invention relates to generation of haploid and doubled haploid plants.

Compositions and methods for modulating male fertility in a plant are provided. Compositions comprise nucleotide sequences, and fragments and variants thereof, which modulate male fertility. Further provided are expression cassettes comprising the male fertility polynucleotides, or fragments or variants thereof, operably linked to a promoter, wherein expression of the polynucleotides modulates the male fertility of a plant. Various methods are provided wherein the level and/or activity of the sequences that influence male fertility is modulated in a plant or plant part. In certain embodiments, the plant is polyploid.

The present invention belongs to the field of plant genetic engineering. Specifically, the invention relates to a method for base editing in plants. More particularly, the invention relates to a method for performing efficient base editing to a target sequence in the genome of a plant (such as a crop plant) by a Cas9-cytidine deaminase fusion protein, as well as plants produced through said method and progenies thereof.

Provided are a parthenogenetic haploid induction gene DMP and an application thereof. The parthenogenetic haploid induction genes AtDMP8 and AtDMP9 are cloned from Arabidopsis thaliana. Experiments have shown that mutations of AtDMP8 and AtDMP9 can produce parthenogenetic haploid inducibility, to enable dicotyledonous crops to be induced to produce haploids via parthenogenetic means. The present invention was further verified in tomatoes, and it was also found in tomatoes that the mutation of SlDMP can produce parthenogenetic haploid inducibility. The invention lays an important foundation for broadening the application of haploid breeding technology on dicotyledonous plants and revealing the biological mechanism of parthenogenetic haploid production. Given the universality of the utilization of haploid breeding technology in the current breeding industry, the invention has very wide application space and market prospects.

The invention provides methods for improving transformation efficiency of a plant. In some aspects, the methods according to the invention comprise the use of a WOX protein or WOX coding sequence, e.g., a nucleic acid encoding the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO: 143 or a nucleic acid encoding a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 85% identity with the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO: 143. Also provided are BABYBOOM coding sequences and methods of use thereof in improving transformation efficiency.

The present disclosure provides Capsicum annuum BCMS plants comprising a male fertility restoration locus. Such plants comprise novel introgressed genomic regions associated with male fertility from Capsicum annuum on chromosome 6. In certain aspects, compositions and methods for producing, breeding, identifying, and selecting plants or germplasm with a male fertility phenotype are provided.

A method for maintaining a male sterile plant in a homozygous recessive state includes providing a first plant that includes homozygous recessive male sterility alleles, providing a second plant that includes homozygous recessive male sterility alleles the same as that in the first plant and a nucleotide construct in which the construct exists in a heterozygous state. The first nucleotide sequence of the nucleotide construct encodes a first protein that restores male fertility of the first plant after expression in the first plant. The second nucleotide sequence of the nucleotide construct allows for distinguishing the grains with or without the construct by observation through naked eyes or devices. The first nucleotide sequence and the second nucleotide sequence are tightly connected with each other and coexist in a plant. The method further includes fertilizing female gametes of the first plant with male gametes of the second plant.

The present invention relates to 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, the present invention provides methods of generating the plants of the present invention and haploid and double haploid plants obtainable by crossing the plants of the present invention with wildtype plants as well as methods of facilitating cytoplasm exchange.

Methods and compositions disclosed herein relate to genes involved in plant production and methods of using the same.

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.