A plant exhibiting a useful trait obtained by a method comprising the steps of a. suppressing expression of MSH1 gene(s) in a first parental plant or plant cell wherein said suppressing is achieved: by transforming the plant or plant cell with a transgene that can suppress expression of MSH1; by introducing a loss of function mutation in an endogenous MSH1 gene by: (i) homologous recombination and substitution of the resident wild -type MSH1 sequence in the chromosome with a mshl replacement sequence with the loss of function mutation(s); (ii) non-homologous end joining and substitution of the resident wild -type MSH1 sequence in the chromosome with a mshl replacement sequence with the loss of function mutation(s); (iii) a combination of non-homologous end joining and homologous recombination and substitution of the resident wild -type MSH1 sequence in the chromosome with a mshl replacement sequence with the loss of function mutation(s); or (iv) by introducing a mutation into an endogenous MSH1 gene with a meganuclease or zinc finger nuclease; chemical mutagenesis followed by high-throughput screening to identify plants comprising point mutations or other mutations in an endogenous MSH1 gene; or by introducing a nucleic acid that provides for MSH1 suppression into the plant cell; b. recovering progeny plants of the parental plant or plant cell_of step (a) where MSH1 function is restored; and c. selecting a progeny plant line that exhibits one or more useful traits from the recovered progeny plants of step (b), or an outcross thereof, wherein said traits are heritable, reversible and caused by one or more altered chromosomal loci in the nucleus of the progeny plant cells, said altered chromosomal loci having undergone an epigenetic change, wherein said altered chromosomal loci were induced by MSH1 suppression, and wherein said traits are selected from the group consisting of improved yield, resistance to biotic stress and resistance to abiotic stress, in particular wherein said trait is improved plant yield; wherein said plant from the selected progeny plant line exhibits an improvement in said trait relative to a parental plant that had not been subjected to suppression of MSH1 expression but was otherwise isogenic to said first parental plant or plant cell, and wherein the plant comprises the altered chromosomal loci associated with the trait. a. suppressing expression of MSH1 gene(s) in a first parental plant or plant cell wherein said suppressing is achieved: by transforming the plant or plant cell with a transgene that can suppress expression of MSH1; by introducing a loss of function mutation in an endogenous MSH1 gene by: (i) homologous recombination and substitution of the resident wild -type MSH1 sequence in the chromosome with a mshl replacement sequence with the loss of function mutation(s); (ii) non-homologous end joining and substitution of the resident wild -type MSH1 sequence in the chromosome with a mshl replacement sequence with the loss of function mutation(s); (iii) a combination of non-homologous end joining and homologous recombination and substitution of the resident wild -type MSH1 sequence in the chromosome with a mshl replacement sequence with the loss of function mutation(s); or (iv) by introducing a mutation into an endogenous MSH1 gene with a meganuclease or zinc finger nuclease; chemical mutagenesis followed by high-throughput screening to identify plants comprising point mutations or other mutations in an endogenous MSH1 gene; or by introducing a nucleic acid that provides for MSH1 suppression into the plant cell; b. recovering progeny plants of the parental plant or plant cell_of step (a) where MSH1 function is restored; and c. selecting a progeny plant line that exhibits one or more useful traits from the recovered progeny plants of step (b), or an outcross thereof, wherein said traits are heritable, reversible and caused by one or more altered chromosomal loci in the nucleus of the progeny plant cells, said altered chromosomal loci having undergone an epigenetic change, wherein said altered chromosomal loci were induced by MSH1 suppression, and wherein said traits are selected from the group consisting of improved yield, resistance to biotic stress and resistance to abiotic stress, in particular wherein said trait is improved plant yield;