Pericarp Free Spinacia Oleracea Seeds

Abstract

Provided herein are substantially pericarp free Spinacia oleracea, or spinach, seeds. Also provided herein are methods for producing substantially pericarp free Spinacia oleracea, or spinach, seeds and Spinacia oleracea, or spinach plant capable of producing substantially pericarp free seeds. Also provided herein are Spinacia oleracea seeds wherein the seeds are substantially free of pericarp and the seeds are obtainable by crossing a female Spinacia oleracea parent plant with a male Spinacia oleracea parent plant resulting in seed production by the female Spinacia oleracea parent plant, the female Spinacia oleracea parent homozygously comprises in its genome a recessive trait substantially preventing pericarp formation on seeds produced and harvesting Spinacia oleracea seeds substantially free of pericarp.

Claims

1. A Spinacia oleracea seed wherein said seed is substantially free of pericarp and is obtained by crossing a female Spinacia oleracea parent plant with a male Spinacia oleracea parent plant resulting in seed production by said female Spinacia oleracea parent plant, said female Spinacia oleracea parent homozygously comprises in its genome a recessive trait substantially preventing pericarp formation on said produced seed and harvesting Spinacia oleracea seeds substantially free of pericarp, wherein said recessive trait substantially preventing pericarp formation is obtained from a Spinacia oleracea seed deposited under NCIMB Accession No. 42555.

2. The Spinacia oleracea seed according to claim 1, wherein said seed is a hybrid seed obtained by crossing said female Spinacia oleracea parent plant with a male Spinacia oleracea plant being a different variety than said female Spinacia oleracea parent plant.

3. The Spinacia oleracea seed according to claim 1, wherein a Spinacia oleracea plant grown from said Spinacia oleracea seed is sterile.

4. The Spinacia oleracea seed according to claim 1, wherein the Spinacia oleracea plant grown from said Spinacia oleracea seed is male sterile.

5.-7. (canceled)

8. A method for producing Spinacia oleracea seeds substantially free of pericarp, the method comprises the step of: crossing a female Spinacia oleracea parent plant with a male Spinacia oleracea parent plant resulting in seed production by said female Spinacia oleracea parent plant, said female Spinacia oleracea parent homozygously comprises in its genome a recessive trait substantially preventing pericarp formation on said produced seeds; and harvesting Spinacia oleracea seeds substantially free of pericarp.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein said female Spinacia oleracea parent plant is crossed with a male Spinacia oleracea plant being a different variety than said female Spinacia oleracea parent plant thereby producing hybrid Spinacia oleracea seeds.

10. The method according to claim 8, wherein said recessive trait substantially preventing pericarp formation is obtained from a Spinacia oleracea plant deposited under NCIMB Accession No. 42555.

11. A Spinacia oleracea plant capable of producing seeds substantially free of pericarp said Spinacia oleracea plant homozygously comprises in its genome a recessive trait substantially preventing pericarp formation on produced seeds.

12. The Spinacia oleracea plant according to claim 11, wherein said Spinacia oleracea plant is male sterile female plant.

13. The Spinacia oleracea plant according to claim 11, wherein said recessive trait substantially preventing pericarp formation is obtained from a Spinacia oleracea seed deposited under NCIMB Accession No. 42555.

14. The Spinacia oleracea plant according to claim 11, wherein said recessive trait substantially preventing pericarp formation is obtained from a Spinacia oleracea plant grown from seed deposited under NCIMB Accession No. 42555.

15.-16. (canceled)

17. The method of claim 9, wherein the Spinacia oleracea seeds that are produced are sterile hybrid seeds.

18. The method of claim 9, wherein the Spinacia oleracea seeds that are produced are male sterile hybrid seeds.

Description

[0048] The present invention will be further detailed in the example below. In the example, reference is made to figures wherein:

[0049] FIG. 1: shows of comparative photograph of the present seeds without pericarp (right) and seeds with pericarp;

[0050] FIG. 2: depicts the time of appearance of seedlings after sowing conventional pericarp containing seeds and the present seeds without pericarp;

[0051] FIG. 3: depicts the weight per plant at different times after sowing of conventional pericarp containing seeds and the present seeds without pericarp;

[0052] FIG. 4: shows the occurrence of pathogens using conventional pericarp containing seeds and the present seeds without pericarp.

EXAMPLE

[0053] Female Spinacia oleracea parent lines homozygously carrying the present trait were crossed with several male Spinacia oleracea parent lines with a different genetic backgrounds not carrying the present trait. Subsequently, substantially 100% seeds without pericarp were produced and collected. The collected seeds were subjected to standard viability, yield and disease tests. The results thereof are summarised in FIGS. 1 to 4.

[0054] As can be clearly seen in FIGS. 1 to 4, as compared to traditional Spinach seeds, weight/volume (FIG. 1); viability (FIG. 2); yield (FIG. 3) and disease resistance (FIG. 4) were significantly improved in the present seeds.

[0055] With respect to the physical properties of the present seeds (FIG. 1), weight of 1000 seeds (TGW, thousand grain weight) of both conventional as pericarp free seeds was determined. The average TGW of pericarp free seeds is 6.1-8.3 gram; of conventional seeds 11.1-12.5 gram. Another parameter determined is the average diameter of seeds; two different lots of pericarp free seeds and related conventional seeds were used to determine the diameter. In one fraction of seeds the conventional seeds had a diameter of 3 mm and pericarp free seeds of 2.6 mm; in a second seed lot the average diameter was 4.4 and 3.0 mm respectively. This means that the diameter of pericarp free seeds is 25-30% smaller than the diameter of conventional seeds.

Deposit Information

[0056] A deposit of a representative sample of a pericarp free spinach 1520124NZ was made on Feb. 25, 2016 at NCIMB Limited; Ferguson Building; Craibstone Estate; Bucksburn Aberdeen; Scotland, AB21 9YA, United Kingdom and was registered as NCIMB 42555.

Definitions:

Coating:

[0057] A relatively thin layer of polymer is supplied to the seed; to this polymer fungicides or insecticides can be added to protect the seed against soil borne pathogens and insect damage. Additionally, a dye can be added, giving the opportunity to check for correct drilling of the seeds. Alternatively, also other beneficial compounds can be added as micronutrients or benificials micro-organisms promoting the growth of the young seedlings.

Encrusting:

[0058] By encrusting the seeds not only are covered with a polymer with or without extra substances as described above but also the seeds are provided with a smooth surface. This makes drilling easier and the added weight enables a more precise direct drilling of seeds treated this way

Pelleting:

[0059] With pelleting the seeds are covered with more material, e.g. polymer bound clay, to produce a regularly shaped, round pellet. This pellet, besides eventually having the protecting substances described above, can be constructed in such a way that it will melt or split after water uptake.

Priming:

[0060] Priming or pre-germination is a treatment were seeds are given enough moisture to have a onset of growth of the embryo inside the seed. This results in a faster emergence of the seedling, a higher emergence rate and better growth. It is believed that this head-start results in a good root system going down the soil early and faster growth.

Dormancy:

[0061] Dormancy prevents the germination of a seed for a certain period of time; normally dormancy prevents germination under unfavourable conditions but this delay can eventually be for a period of several months or even years.

Pericarp Free or Substantially Pericarp Free:

[0062] Pericarp free in the context of this application means that practically no pericarp is surrounding the true seed; however some minor remains of the pericarp may eventually be present.