Because of the frequent breakdown of major resistance (R) genes, identification of new partial R genes against rice blast disease is an important goal of rice breeding. In this study, we used a core collection of the Rice Diversity Panel II (C-RDP-II), which contains 584 rice accessions and are genotyped with 700 000 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. The C-RDP-II accessions were inoculated with three blast strains collected from different rice-growing regions in China.

We recently achieved targeted disruptions of cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS)‐associated genes in the mitochondrial genomes of rice and rapeseed by using mitochondria‐targeted TALENs (mitoTALENs). It was the first report of stable and heritable targeted gene modification of plant mitochondrial genomes. Here, we attempted to use mitoTALENs to disrupt two mitochondrial genes in the model plant Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) using three different promoters and two types of TALENs.

RNA interference (RNAi) is a promising approach for developing insect‐resistant crops. In the first two proof‐of‐concept studies, DNA fragments derived from essential insect genes were constructed into plant expression cassettes as inverted repeats, enabling long double‐stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) to be transcribed in host plants (Baum et al., 2007; Mao et al., 2007).

Genome editing has become one of the key technologies for plant breeding. However, in polyploid species such as chrysanthemum, knockout of all loci of multiple genes is needed to eliminate functional redundancies. We identified six cDNAs for the CmDMC1 genes involved in meiotic homologous recombination in chrysanthemum. Since all six cDNAs harbored a homologous core region, simultaneous knockout via TALEN-mediated genome editing should be possible.

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is grown in a wide range of ecosystems, including flood- and drought-prone environments. As rice is the main food for more than half of the world’s population, rice yield losses pose a major threat to food security. Rice is vulnerable to a wide range of abiotic stresses, like drought, heavy metals, salinity, cold, and submergence. It is a high water-consuming crop and irrigated rice represents 53% of the global cultivated area of rice.

In outcrossing species such as intermediate wheatgrass (IWG, Thinopyrum intermedium), polycrossing is often used to generate novel recombinants through each cycle of selection, but it cannot track pollen-parent pedigrees and it is unknown how self-incompatibility (SI) genes may limit the number of unique crosses obtained. This study investigated the potential of using next-generation sequencing to assign paternity and identify putative SI loci in IWG.

An ideal plant architecture is important for achieving high grain yield in crops. Tiller angle (TA) is an important factor influencing yield. In the present study, 266 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from a cross between Zhongmai 871 (ZM871) and its sister line Zhongmai 895 (ZM895) was used to map TA by extreme pool-genotyping and inclusive composite interval mapping (ICIM).

Rose is one of the major ornamental plants. The selection of glabrous cultivars is an important breeding target but remains a difficult task due to our limited genetic knowledge. Our objective was to understand the genetic and molecular determinism of prickles. Using a segregating diploid rose F₁ population, we detected two types of prickles (glandular and non-glandular) in the progeny. We scored the number of non-glandular prickles on the floral and main stems for three years

High temperatures, particularly at night, decrease rice yield and quality. As high nighttime temperatures (HNTs) become increasingly frequent due to climate change, it is imperative to develop rice crops that tolerate HNTs. DNA methylation may represent a potential avenue for HNT-tolerant rice strain development, as this mechanism regulates gene activity and cellular phenotype in response to adverse environmental conditions without changing the nucleotide sequence.

Integrating cutting-edge technologies is imperative to sustainably breed crops for a growing global population. To predict dry matter yield (DMY) in winter rye (Secale cereale L.), we tested single-kernel models based on genomic (GBLUP) and hyperspectral reflectance-derived (HBLUP) relationship matrices, a multi-kernel model combining both matrices and a bivariate model fitted with plant height as a secondary trait.