Abstract: The present device enables measurement of the susceptibility of plants to root lodging, stalk or stem lodging and brittle snap (broken stems or stalks). The device is used to push on a plant stalk or stem and the force used to push over the stalk/stem, and the vibration of the stalk/stem caused by the push are recorded. As material breaks in the stalk/stem, an accelerometer, measures stalk/stem vibration response to the breaking events; the data is then recorded to allow quantitative measurements of the susceptibility of plants to root lodging, stalk or stem lodging and brittle snap (broken stems or stalks). This allows meaningful comparisons of various hybrids or varieties at early stages of evaluation and advancement.

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.