Compositions and methods are provided for agronomic trait modification of a target sequence in the genome of a plant or plant cell. The methods and compositions employ a guide RNA/Cas endonuclease system to provide an effective system for modifying or altering target sites within a genomic region of a plant, plant cell or seed to provide improvement in a desirable agronomic trait such as drought, yield, and stress tolerance. Breeding methods for selecting plants utilizing a two component RNA guide and Cas endonuclease system are also disclosed. Compositions and methods are also provided for editing a nucleotide sequence in the genome of a cell.

The present disclosure provides mutant parasites, in particular protozoan parasites comprising a mutation of the trehalose-6-phosphate synthase/6-phosphate phosphatase (TPS/TPP)-like gene of Toxoplasma gondii (herein referred to as ‘Toxoplasma’) or a homologue thereof as well as vaccines comprising same.

The invention involves the provision of recombinant algal mutants that have a genetic modification to a nucleic acid sequence encoding a trehalose biosynthetic enzyme, and/or a genetic modification to a nucleic acid encoding an RNA binding domain. And in some embodiments either of these algal mutants can further have a genetic mutation to a nucleic acid sequence encoding an SGI1 polypeptide. Attenuation of one, two, or all three of these genes results in a mutant organism with increased lipid productivity. It was also discovered that one, two, three, or more genetic mutations can be accumulated or “stacked” in a particular mutant cell or organism to result in further increases in the production of lipid products. The lipid products of these mutants are useful as biofuels or for other specialty chemical products.

The present disclosure provides a bacterial composition, comprising: at least one genetically engineered bacterial strain that fixes atmospheric nitrogen in an agricultural system, wherein the bacterial strain comprises a modification in or one or more genes selected from the group consisting of bcsll, bcslll, yjbE, fhaB, pehA, glgA, otsB, treZ, and cysZ. The present disclosure further provides a bacterial composition and method for increasing the colonization of a plant growth promoting bacterial strain on a plant, wherein the plant growth promoting bacterial strain has been remodeled to increase colonization of said plant, In a further aspect, the present disclosure provides methods of increasing nitrogen or nitrogen fixation available to a plant.

Aspects of the disclosure provide engineered microbes for ethanol production. Methods for microbe engineering and culturing are also provided herein. Such engineered microbes exhibit enhanced capabilities for ethanol production.

The present disclosure provides mutant parasites, in particular protozoan parasites comprising a mutation of the trehalose-6-phosphate synthase/6-phosphate phosphatase (TPS/TPP)-like gene of Toxoplasma gondii (herein referred to as Toxoplasma) or a homologue thereof as well as vaccines comprising same.

The invention involves the provision of recombinant algal mutants that have a genetic modification to a nucleic acid sequence encoding a trehalose biosynthetic enzyme, and/or a genetic modification to a nucleic acid encoding an RNA binding domain. And in some embodiments either of these algal mutants can further have a genetic mutation to a nucleic acid sequence encoding an SGI1 polypeptide. Attenuation of one, two, or all three of these genes results in a mutant organism with increased lipid productivity. It was also discovered that one, two, three, or more genetic mutations can be accumulated or stacked in a particular mutant cell or organism to result in further increases in the production of lipid products. The lipid products of these mutants are useful as biofuels or for other specialty chemical products.

The invention involves the provision of recombinant algal mutants that have a genetic modification to a nucleic acid sequence encoding a trehalose biosynthetic enzyme, and/or a genetic modification to a nucleic acid encoding an RNA binding domain And in some embodiments either of these algal mutants can further have a genetic mutation to a nucleic acid sequence encoding an SGI1 polypeptide. Attenuation of one, two, or all three of these genes results in a mutant organism with increased lipid productivity. It was also discovered that one, two, three, or more genetic mutations can be accumulated or stacked in a particular mutant cell or organism to result in further increases in the production of lipid products. The lipid products of these mutants are useful as biofuels or for other specialty chemical products.

The present invention discloses a plant grain trait-related protein as well as a coding gene and use thereof. The present invention provides protein TaTPP-7A, which is a protein consisting of the amino acid sequence as shown by SEQ ID NO: 1 in Sequence Listing. The gene encoding the protein TaTPP-7A is also within the protection scope of the present invention. The present invention is further directed to a method of cultivating transgenic plants, comprising the step of introducing the gene TaTPP-7A into a starting plant to obtain a transgenic plant; said transgenic plant satisfies at least one of the following (e1) to (e6):(e1) having a heavier thousand-kernel weight in grains than said starting plant; (e2) having a heavier kernel weight in grains than said starting plant; (e3) having a larger size in grains than said starting plant; (e4) having a longer kernel length in grains than said starting plant; (e5) having a wider kernel width in grains than said starting plant; (e6) having a thicker kernel thickness in grains than said starting plant. Therefore, the protein and coding gene thereof provided by the present invention can be used for improving the quality of plants and increasing the yield of plant gains, and has broad application prospects. The invention also provides for SNP markers and haplotypes associated with the above grain characteristics.

The present invention discloses that by combining different di TPS enzymes of class I and class II different diterpenes may be produced including diterpenes not identified in nature. Surprisingly it is revealed that a di TPS enzyme of class I of one species may be combined with a di TPS enzyme of class II from a different species, resulting in a high diversity of diterpenes, which can be produced.