Kws Saat Se * Co. Kgaa

Monika Kloiber-Maitz

Milena Ouzunova

Christof Bolduan

Markus Niessen

Silke Wieckhorst

Frank Breuer

Britta Schulz

Nils Stein

Jochen Kumlehm

Takayoshi Ishii

Andreas Houben

Fridtjof Weltmeier

Raheleh Karimi-Ashiyani

Nina Meyer

Carolina Lopez-duran

Therese Bolduan

The present invention relates to plants, such as maize, sorghum or sugar cane, having improved digestibility, in particular improved stover digestibility. The present invention relates to a QTL allele associated with improved digestibility and specific marker alleles associated with the QTL allele. The present invention further relates to such plants, wherein the F35H gene is mutated or wherein F35H expression is altered. The invention also relates to methods for identifying plants having improved digestibility and methods for obtaining such plants.

Plants with improved digestibility and marker haplotypes

The present invention relates to plants having the activity of a haploid inducer comprising mutations in certain regions of the KINETOCHORE NULL2 (KNL2) protein in a plant, in particular within the SANTA domain. Provided are methods of generating haploid cells and doubled haploid cells as well as corresponding plants and plant parts. The present invention also relates to a method for identification of a plant in a plant population, wherein the plant has at least one mutation in the KNL2 protein, in particular within the SANTA domain, which confers activity of a haploid inducer. Further provided is a set of oligonucleotides for the identification of a plant having activity of a haploid inducer.

Haploid inducers

The present invention relates to non-transgenic and transgenic plants, preferably crop plants, having biological activity of a haploid inducer and comprising a polynucleotide which comprises a nucleotide sequence encoding a centromer histone H3 (CENH3) protein, wherein the polynucleotide comprises at least one mutation causing an alteration of the amino acid sequence of the CENH3 protein, and to a part of the part. Further, the invention provides methods of generating the inducer plants, methods of generating haploid and double haploid plants using the inducer plants as well as methods of facilitating cytoplasm exchange.

Generation of haploid plants

The present invention relates to non-transgenic and transgenic plants, preferably crop plants, comprising a mutation causing an alteration of the amino acid sequence in the CATD domain of the centromere histone H3 (CENH3), preferably within the loop1 or the α2-helix of the CATD domain, which 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.

Sorghum plants are provided which are capable of inducing haploidy by modifications in the genome related to a pollen-specific expressed patatin phospholipid producing haploid offspring and can be produced for hybrid breeding in short time by chromosome doubling inbred lines, that is, homozygous father and mother lines. In addition, methods are provided for producing transgenic and non-transgenic plant haploid inducers and improving the induction performance of plants.

Haploidization in sorghum

The present invention relates to non-tr&#xe4;nsgenic and transgenic plants, preferably crop plants, comprising a mutation causing an alteration of the amino acid sequence in the CATD domain of the centromere histone H3 (CENH3), preferably within the loop1 or the &#x3b1;2-helix of the CATD domain, which 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.

The present invention relates to the provision of technical means such as nucleic acids which, after transcription or after expression in a plant, are suitable for mediating the property of a haploid inductor or for increasing the induction capability of a haploid inductor, as well as methods and uses for the production and identification of non-transgenic and transgenic plant haploid inductors, as well as the improvement of existing plant haploid inductors.

Growing community of inventors

Einbeck, Germany

Monika Kloiber-Maitz