Abstract: Provided is a method for screening a population of plants or plant parts for the presence of individuals showing reduced discolouration compared to a control plant or plant part. The method comprises providing a population of plants or plant parts, optionally creating a wound surface, and incubating the plant, plant parts, or wound surfaces created thereon to allow for discolouration. The discolouration is compared to that of control plants, plant parts, or wound surfaces, and plants or plant parts showing no discolouration or reduced discolouration, compared to control plants or plant parts are identified. Suitably, the discolouration is wound-induced discolouration.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for conveying resistance to beet necrotic yellow vein virus (BNYVV) to a sugar beet plant, which method comprises the following steps: (a) preparing a DNA fragment consisting of a nucleotide sequence that corresponds to nucleotides 153 to 3258 of the genomic RNA 1 of the beet necrotic yellow vein virus (BNYVV); (b) introducing said DNA fragment, operatively linked to a promoter that is active in sugar beet plants, into a sugar beet plant cell to obtain a transformed sugar beet cell; and (c) regenerating a transgenic sugar beet plant from the transformed sugar beet plant cell.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to the production of male sterile plants by providing them with a recombinant DNA capable of specific expression in the male reproductive system of a plant of the enzyme trehalose phosphate phosphatase (TPP). Restoration of the fertility can be established either by providing said male sterile plants with a recombinant DNA capable of expression of trehalose phosphate synthase (TPS) under control of an inducible promoter or with a recombinant DNA capable of expression of a suppressor protein which suppresses expression of TPP under control of an inducible promoter. This inducible restoration possibilities enable the maintenance site-specific recombination system is provided, by inserting two site-specific recombination sites flanking the recombinant DNA coding for TPP and crossing the male sterile lines with lines expressing the corresponding recombinase. By crossing the recombinase will excise the gene coding for TPP and fertile hybrids are produced.

Abstract: This invention describes a method to prevent sprouting in vegetatively propagated plants such as potato, strawberry, banana and bulbous plants such as onion and bulbous flowers, by transforming a plant or a plant from one of its parental lines with a gene coding for trehalose phosphate synthase. Restoration of sprouting is also provided for.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to the production of male sterile plants by providing them with a recombinant DNA capable of specific expression in the male reproductive system of a plant of the enzyme trehalose phosphate (TPP). Resotration of the fertility can be established either by providing said male sterile plants with a recombinant DNA capable of expression of trehalose phosphate synthase (TPS) under control of an inducible promoter or with a recombinant DNA capable of expression of a suppressor protein which suppresses expression of TPP under control of an inducible promoter. This inducible restoration possibilities enable the maintenance of a homozygous male sterile line. Restoration can also be done by spraying the male sterile plants with gibberellic acid.

Abstract: This invention describes a method to prevent post-harvest sprouting in potato by transforming the potato plant with a gene coding for trehalose phosphate synthase.