Abstract: Compositions comprising antimicrobial peptides are provided. The peptides are derivatives of tachyplesin having amino acid substitutions in which the four cysteine residues are replaced with hydrophobic amino acids. The compositions are useful in methods of the control of fungal and bacterial activity in agricultural and medical applications. Methods for making and using the compounds of the invention are additionally provided.

Abstract: Novel compositions and methods useful for genetic engineering of plant cells to provide expression in the plastids of a plant or plant cell of cellulose degrading enzymes.

Abstract: Plant nitrogen metabolism in corn and tobacco has been altered by transformation with a highly active assimilatory glutamate dehydrogenase gene. Plants containing the gdhA gene are resistant to phosphinothricin herbicides (PPT) which can include glufosinate herbicides. Additionally, these transformed plants evidence higher levels of tolerance to PPT when combined with another PPT resistant gene. This invention also includes the method of improving plant growth in a field of crops encoding for GDH due to a gdhA transgene.

Abstract: This invention relates to isolated nucleic acid fragments encoding all or a substantial portion of a corn 4-.alpha.-glucanotransferase. The invention also relates to the construction of chimeric genes encoding all or a portion of a corn 4-.alpha.-glucanotransferase, in sense or antisense orientation, wherein expression of the chimeric gene results in production of altered levels of corn 4-.alpha.-glucanotransferase in a transformed host cell.

Abstract: The present invention provides chimeric genes that comprise a first promoter recognized by a DNA-dependent RNA polymerase different from a eukaryotic RNA polymerase II; a DNA region encoding a chimeric RNA which comprises a 5' UTR, an AU-rich heterologous coding sequence, a 3' UTR; and optionally a terminator sequence recognized by said RNA polymerase, wherein the first promoter and the DNA region encoding the chimeric RNA are operably linked such that upon transcription by the RNA polymerase an uncapped RNA species is produced which comprises a first translation enhancing sequence derived from the 5' region of genomic or subgenomic RNA of a positive stranded RNA plant virus; a heterologous RNA coding sequence encoding a polypeptide or protein of interest, preferably from an AT-rich gene; and a second translation enhancing sequence derived from the 3' region of genomic or subgenomic RNA of a positive-stranded RNA plant virus, wherein the uncapped RNA species is capable of being translated in the cytoplasm of

Abstract: The NIM1 gene product is a structural homologue of the mammalian signal transduction factor I.kappa.B subclass .alpha.. The present invention exploits this discovery to provide altered forms of NIM1 that act as dominant-negative regulators of the systemic acquired resistance (SAR) signal transduction pathway. These altered forms of NIM1 confer the opposite phenotype as the nim1 mutant in plants transformed with the altered forms of NIM1; i.e., the transgenic plants exhibit constitutive SAR gene expression and a constitutive immunity (CIM) phenotype. The present invention further concerns DNA molecules encoding altered forms of the NIM1 gene, expression vectors containing such DNA molecules, and plants and plant cells transformed therewith. The invention also concerns methods of activating SAR in plants and conferring to plants a CIM phenotype and broad spectrum disease resistance by transforming the plants with DNA molecules encoding altered forms of the NIM1 gene product.

Abstract: The maize gene dull1 (du1) of the present invention is a determinant of the structure of endosperm starch. Mutations of du1 affect the activity of at least two enzymes involved in starch biosynthesis, namely the starch synthase, SSII, and the starch branching enzyme, SBEIIa. Du1 codes for a predicted 1674 residue protein, and is expressed with a unique temporal pattern in endosperm but is undetectable in leaf or root. The size of the Du1 product and its expression pattern match precisely the known characteristics of maize SSII. The Du1 product contains two different repeated regions in its unique amino terminus, one of which is identical to a conserved segment of the starch debranching enzymes. The cDNA provided for in the present invention encodes SSII, and mutations within this gene affect multiple aspects of starch biogenesis by disrupting an enzyme complex containing starch synthase(s), starch branching enzyme(s), and possibly starch debranching enzyme(s).

Abstract: Compositions and methods for controlling pests, particularly insect pests, are provided. The compositions comprise proteins isolated from plants of the genus Pentaclethra which exhibit trypsin inhibiting activity. Nucleotide sequences encoding the proteins are also provided. Such sequences find use in transforming organisms for control of pests.

Abstract: The present invention provide nucleic acids encoding polypeptides which confer resistance to Xanthomonas spp. The nucleic acids can be used to produce transgenic plants resistant to the pathogen.

Abstract: An expression vector comprising a promoter capable of directing expression of a coding sequence in an angiosperm cell, and a 3' untranslated region of a rice .alpha.-amylase gene, wherein, after the coding sequence is inserted into the vector, the 3' untranslated region and the coding sequence are transcribed into a single mRNA. Also featured are methods of producing a polypeptide in angiosperm cells using such a vector.

Abstract: The invention provides LCT1 nucleic acids which encode metal ion uptake transporters. The invention also provides methods of modulating heavy metal and alkali metal uptake in plants. The methods involve producing transgenic plants comprising a recombinant expression cassette containing an LCT1 nucleic acid linked to a plant promoter.

Abstract: A selectable marker, the ASA2 gene of Nicotiana tabacum, is provided for transforming plant cells. The ASA2 promoter sequence is also provided which is capable of directing tissue culture specific transcription of a downstream structural gene. Also disclosed are truncated forms of the ASA2 promoter which are capable of directing high level constitutive transcription of downstream structural genes. Constructs containing the above genes and promoters are also disclosed.

Abstract: The present invention provide nucleic acids encoding polypeptides which confer resistance to Xanthomonas spp. The nucleic acids can be used to produce transgenic plants resistant to the pathogen.

Abstract: Transgenic monocotyledonous plants are produced by inserting a foreign genetic material directly into a node segment of a stem of a plant and thereafter subjecting the node segment to conditions sufficient to permit regeneration of the node segment into a plantlet. Preferably, the genetic material is inserted by biolistic transformation, Agrobacterium, or direct DNA uptake mediated by electroporation. The process is especially useful for producing transgenic ryegrasses, fescues and turfgrasses, such as St. Augustinegrass, creeping bentgrass, Kentucky bluegrass, and the like.

Abstract: An isolated nucleic acid molecule is provided which encodes a tobacco myb homologue involved in the regulation of disease resistance in plants. The encoded protein comprises a basic N-terminal region with two imperfect tryptophan repeats of 53 and 51 amino acids, a potential ATP/GTP binding site or P-loop, a redox sensitive cysteine and a nuclear localization sequence. The acidic C terminus of Myb1 forms amphipathic .alpha. helices which are characteristic of transcriptional activation domains. The invention also provides novel Myb1 protein and antibodies thereto. Additionally, the invention provides novel transgenic plants with enhanced disease resistance to certain pathogens.

Abstract: An inbred maize line, designated PH2CB, the plants and seeds of inbred maize line PH2CB, methods for producing a maize plant, either inbred or hybrid, produced by crossing the inbred maize line PH2CB with itself or with another maize plant, and hybrid maize seeds and plants produced by crossing the inbred line PH2CB with another maize line or plant.

Abstract: A synthetic hybrid corn plant having the designation P66, produced by crossing two proprietary DuPont TopCross International maize synthetics, P66B and P66A. P66 has the unique property of imparting high oil and high protein levels in the grain of certain normal and male sterile hybrids when used as a pollinator. P66 is characterized by excellent cold tolerant seedling vigor for rapid emergence in cold soils and excellent early-season adaptability to nick with early maize hybrids that condition fast dry-down and superior grain quality in the recipient female grain parent. This invention thus relates to the seeds, plants and plant parts of P66, to plants regenerated from tissue culture of the plants of P66, to a method of producing P66, and to a method for producing high oil grain using P66 as a pollinator.

Abstract: A gene, designated as CBF1, encoding a protein, CBF1, which binds to a region regulating expression of genes which promote cold temperature and dehydration tolerance in plants is described. CBF1 is used to transform microorganisms and can be used to transform plants.

Abstract: A nucleic acid sequence effectively expressing FLP recombinase in monocot plants, particularly in maize. Stable, transformed maize plants harboring a gene encoding FLP or harboring FRT nucleic acid sequences enable efficient site-directed recombination of nucleic acid sequences in a monocot's genome.

Abstract: All organisms respond to elevated temperature by specifically inducing the expression of a set of new proteins; the "heat shock proteins" or "Hsps." Although this response has been known for over thirty years, the specific role of individual heat shock proteins in the overall response is still largely unknown. All organisms have a basal level of thermotolerance--an organism-specific temperature threshold above which they die. The advantage to increased thermotolerance in a plant is clear--increased thermotolerance improves crop yield in particularly hot growing seasons, and expands the geographic area where a particular crop can be grown. The present invention provides a method of increasing thermotolerance in plants comprising transforming plant cells with a vector which over-expresses the carrot Hsp17.7 gene. This is the first demonstration of enhancement of plant thermotolerance through the over-expression of a low molecular weight heat shock protein.