Leek variety NUN 50215 LEL

Abstract

The invention provides a new and distinct hybrid variety of Leek, NUN 50215 LEL as well as seeds and plants and leaves or shafts thereof.

Claims

1. A plant, a plant part or a seed of Leek variety NUN 50215 LEL, wherein a representative sample of seed of said variety is deposited under Accession Number NCIMB 42794.

2. The plant part of claim 1, wherein said plant part is a leaf, a shaft, a pollen, an ovule, a fruit, a cutting, a flower, or a cell.

3. A seed that produces the plant of claim 1.

4. A seed grown on the plant of claim 1.

5. A tissue or cell culture comprising cells of the plant of claim 1.

6. The tissue or cell culture according to claim 5, comprising cells or protoplasts obtained from said plant part of said Leek variety NUN 50215 LEL, wherein said plant part is an embryo, a meristem, a cotyledon, a hypocotyl, a pollen, a leaf, an anther, a root, a root tip, a pistil, a petiole, a flower, a fruit, a shaft, a seed, a stem or a stalk.

7. A Leek plant regenerated from the tissue or cell culture of claim 5 or claim 6, wherein the regenerated Leek plant has all of the physiological and morphological characteristics of the Leek plant of variety NUN 50215 LEL when grown under the same environmental conditions, and wherein a representative sample of seed of Leek variety NUN 50215 LEL is deposited under Accession Number NCIMB 42794.

8. A method of producing the plant of claim 1, comprising vegetative propagation of said plant part of Leek variety NUN 50215 LEL, wherein a representative sample of seed of said Leek variety is deposited under Accession Number NCIMB 42794.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein said vegetative propagation comprises regenerating a Leek plant from said plant part of said leek variety NUN 50215 LEL, wherein the regenerated Leek plant has all of the physiological and morphological characteristics of the Leek plant of variety NUN 50215 LEL when grown under the same environmental conditions, and wherein a representative sample of seed of said Leek variety is deposited under Accession Number NCIMB 42794.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein said plant part is a cutting, a cell culture or a tissue culture.

11. A vegetative propagated plant or a plant part thereof of claim 1, having all of the physiological and morphological characteristics of the plant of NUN 50215 LEL when grown under the same environmental conditions, and wherein a representative sample of seed of Leek variety NUN 50215 LEL is deposited under Accession Number NCIMB 42794.

12. A method of producing a Leek progeny plant, comprising crossing the Leek plant of claim 1 with a second Leek plant at least once to produce progeny Leek plants, allowing the progeny Leek plants to form seed and selecting a progeny Leek plant from said crossing, wherein said selected progeny Leek plant has all of the physiological and morphological characteristics of the plant of NUN 50215 LEL when grown under the same environmental conditions, and wherein a representative sample of seed of Leek variety NUN 50215 LEL is deposited under Accession Number NCIMB 42794.

13. A first generation progeny plant of the plant of claim 1 obtained by selfing Leek variety NUN 50215 LEL, or cross-pollinating Leek variety NUN 50215 LEL with another Leek plant, wherein said progeny plant has all of the physiological and morphological characteristics of the plant of Leek variety NUN 50215 LEL when grown under the same environmental conditions, and wherein a representative sample of seed of said Leek variety is deposited under Accession Number NCIMB 42794.

14. A food or feed product comprising the plant part of claim 2.

15. A leek plant comprising at least a first set of the chromosomes of the plant of leek variety NUN 50215 LEL, wherein a representative sample of seed of said variety has been deposited under Accession Number NCIMB 42794, and wherein said leek plant comprising the first set of the chromosomes has all of the physiological and morphological characteristics of said leek variety NUN 50215 LEL.

16. A plant of leek variety NUN 50215 LEL, further comprising a single locus conversion, wherein a representative sample of seed of said leek variety NUN 50215 LEL has been deposited under Accession Number NCIMB 42794, and wherein said leek plant having all the physiological and morphological characteristics of said leek variety NUN 50215 LEL when grown under the same environmental conditions.

17. The plant of claim 16, wherein the single locus conversion confers trait of male sterility, herbicide tolerance, insect resistance, pest resistance, disease resistance, environmental stress tolerance, modified carbohydrate metabolism or modified protein metabolism.

18. A method of producing a leek plant having a desired trait, wherein the method comprises mutating a leek plant of variety NUN 50215 LEL and selecting a mutated leek plant with the desired trait, wherein the mutated leek plant retains all of the morphological and physiological characteristics of the leek plant of variety NUN 50215 LEL and additionally contains the desired trait, and wherein the representative sample of seed of said leek variety NUN 50215 LEL has been deposited under Accession Number NCIMB 42794.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the desired trait is male sterility, herbicide tolerance, insect resistance, pest resistance, disease resistance, environmental stress tolerance, modified carbohydrate metabolism or modified protein metabolism.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(1) The present invention relates to a plant of NUN 50215 LEL wherein a representative sample of seeds of said variety was deposited under the Budapest Treaty, with Accession number NCIMB 42794.

(2) The present invention also relates to a seed of Leek variety, referred to as NUN 50215 LEL, wherein a representative sample of said seed was deposited under the Budapest Treaty, with Accession number NCIMB 42794.

(3) In another aspect, the invention provides for a Leek plant part of variety NUN 50215 LEL, preferably a shaft or a leaf, a representative sample of seed from said variety has been deposited under the Budapest Treaty, with Accession number NCIMB 42794.

(4) A seed of hybrid variety NUN 50215 LEL is obtainable by crossing the male parent of said variety with the female parent of said variety and harvesting the seeds produced on the female parent. The resultant seeds of said variety can be grown to produce plants of said variety. In one embodiment a seed or a plurality of seeds of said variety are packaged into a container of any size or type (e.g., bags, cartons, cans, etc.). The seed may be disinfected, primed and/or treated with various compounds, such as seed coatings or crop protection compounds. The seed produces a plant of NUN 50215 LEL.

(5) Also provided is a plant of Leek variety NUN 50215 LEL, or a shaft or a leaf or other plant part thereof, produced from a seed, wherein a representative sample of said seeds has been deposited under the Budapest Treaty, with Accession Number NCIMB 42794.

(6) Also a plant part obtained from variety NUN 50215 LEL is provided, wherein said plant part is selected from the group consisting of: a leaf, a harvested leaf, a part of a leaf, a shaft, a harvested shaft, a part of a shaft, a fruit, a harvested fruit, a part of a fruit, pollen, an ovule, a cell, a petiole, a shoot or a part thereof, a stem or a part thereof, a root or a part thereof, a root tip, a cutting, a seed, a part of a seed, seed coat or another maternal tissue which is part of a seed grown on said varieties, hypocotyl, cotyledon, a scion, a stock, a rootstock, a pistil, an anther, and a flower or a part thereof. Leaves and shafts are particularly important plant parts. In a further embodiment, the plant part obtained from variety NUN 50215 LEL is a cell, optionally a cell in a cell or tissue culture. That cell may be grown into a plant of NUN 50215 LEL. A part of a variety of the invention, i.e. NUN 50215 LEL (or of progeny NUN 50215 LEL or of a plant having all physiological and/or morphological characteristics but one, two or three which are different from those of NUN 50215 LEL) further encompasses any cells, tissues, organs obtainable from the seedlings or plants in any stage of maturity.

(7) The invention also provides for a food or feed product or a processed product comprising or consisting of a plant part described herein wherein the plant part can be identified as a part of the plant of the invention. Preferably, the plant part is a Leek shaft or part thereof or Leek leaf or part thereof and/or an extract from a plant part described herein, each comprising at least one cell of NUN 50215 LEL. The food or feed product may be fresh or processed, e.g., dried, grinded, powdered, pickled, chopped, cooked, roasted, in a sauce, in a sandwich, pasted, pured or concentrated, juiced, pickled, canned, steamed, boiled, fried, blanched and/or frozen, etc.

(8) Such a plant part of NUN 50215 LEL can be stored and/or processed further. Encompassed are therefore also food or feed products comprising one or more of such parts, such as canned, chopped, cooked, roasted, in a sauce, in a sandwich, pasted, pured or concentrated, juiced, frozen, dried, pickled, or powdered Leek parts from NUN 50215 LEL or from progeny of said varieties, or from a derived variety, such as a plant having all but one, two or three physiological and/or morphological characteristics of NUN 50215 LEL.

(9) In a preferred embodiment, the invention provides for a Leek leaf or shaft of variety NUN 50215 LEL, or a part of a leaf or shaft of said variety. The leaf or shaft can be in any stage of maturity, for example immature or mature. In another embodiment, the invention provides for a container comprising or consisting of a plurality of harvested Leek leaves or shafts or parts thereof, or leaves or shafts of progeny thereof, or leaves or shafts of a derived variety.

(10) In another embodiment the plant, plant part or seed of NUN 50215 LEL is inside a container. For example, containers such as cans, boxes, crates, bags, cartons, Modified Atmosphere Packaging, films (e.g. biodegradable films), etc. comprising a plant or a part of a plant (fresh and/or processed) of NUN 50215 LEL or a seed of NUN 50215 LEL are also provided herein. In a preferred embodiment, the container comprises a plurality of seeds of NUN 50215 LEL, or a plurality of plant parts of NUN 50215 LEL.

(11) The present invention further relates to a Leek variety, referred to as NUN 50215 LEL, whichwhen compared to its REFERENCE VARIETY Kryptonhas the following distinguishing characteristics: 1) Average plant height; 2) Shaft bulb formation type; 3) Shaft narrowing type; 4) Leaf blade bending; 5) Average leaf blade length; 6) Average leaf angle; and 7) Leaf blade color, where the characteristics are determined at the 5% significance level for plants grown under the same environmental conditions. Also encompassed by the present invention are parts of that plant.

(12) In one embodiment a plant of NUN 50215 LEL or a progeny plant thereof, comprises all of the following morphological and/or physiological characteristics (i.e. average values of distinguishing characteristics, as indicated on the USDA Objective description of varietyLeek (unless indicated otherwise)): 1) Average plant height; 2) Shaft bulb formation type; 3) Shaft narrowing type; 4) Leaf blade bending; 5) Average leaf blade length; 6) Average leaf angle; and 7) Leaf blade color, where the characteristics are determined at the 5% significance level for plants grown under the same environmental conditions. An example of values for the distinguishing characteristics collected in a trial run according to UDSA requirements can be found in Table 1. A part of this plant is also provided.

(13) The invention further provides a Leek plant which does not differ from the plant of NUN 50215 LEL as determined at the 1%, 2%, 3%, 4% or 5% significance level when grown under the same environmental conditions. Thus the plants are measured in the same trial. Preferably, the trial is conducted as recommended by the USDA or UPOV. The invention also comprises a part of said plant

(14) The invention also provides a tissue or cell culture comprising cells of NUN 50215 LEL. Such a tissue culture can for example be grown on plates or in liquid culture, or be frozen for long term storage. The cells of NUN 50215 LEL used to start the culture can be selected from any plant part suitable for vegetative reproduction, or in a preferred embodiment can be selected from embryos, meristems, cotyledons, hypocotyl, pollen, leaves, shaft, anthers, roots, root tips, pistil, petiole, flower, fruit, seed, stem and stalks of NUN 50215 LEL. In another preferred embodiment, the tissue culture does not contain somaclonal variation or has reduced somaclonal variation. The skilled person is familiar with methods to reduce or prevent somaclonal variation, including regular reinitiation.

(15) In one embodiment the invention provides a Leek plant regenerated from the tissue or cell culture of NUN 50215 LEL, wherein the regenerated plant is not significantly different from NUN 50215 LEL in all, or all but one, two or three, of the physiological and morphological characteristics (determined at the 5% significance level when grown under the same environmental conditions). Optionally, the plant has one, two or three the physiological and morphological characteristics that are affected by a mutation or by transformation. In another embodiment, the invention provides a Leek plant regenerated from the tissue or cell culture of NUN 50215 LEL, wherein the plant has all of the physiological and morphological characteristics of said variety determined at the 5% significance level when grown under the same environmental conditions. In these cases, similarity or difference of a characteristic is determined by measuring the characteristics of a representative number of plants grown under the same environmental conditions, determining whether type/degree characteristics are the same or different and determining whether numerical characteristics are significantly different (determined at the 5% significance level).

(16) A Leek according to the invention, such as NUN 50215 LEL, or its progeny, or a plant having all physiological and/or morphological characteristics but one, two or three which are different from those of NUN 50215 LEL, can also be reproduced using vegetative reproduction methods. Therefore, the invention provides for a method of producing a plant, or a part thereof, of variety NUN 50215 LEL, comprising vegetative propagation of said variety. Vegetative propagation comprises regenerating a whole plant from a plant part of variety NUN 50215 LEL (or from a progeny of said variety or from or a plant having all physiological and/or morphological characteristics of said variety but one, two or three different characteristics), such as a cutting, a cell culture or a tissue culture.

(17) The invention also concerns methods of vegetatively propagating a part of the plant of the invention NUN 50215 LEL. In certain embodiments, the method comprises the steps of: (a) collecting tissue or cells capable of being propagated from a plant of the invention; (b) cultivating said tissue or cells to obtain proliferated shoots; and (c) rooting said proliferated shoots, to obtain rooted plantlets. Steps (b) and (c) may also be reversed, i.e. first cultivating said tissue to obtain roots and then cultivating the tissue to obtain shoots, thereby obtaining rooted plantlets. The rooted plantlets may then be further grown, to obtain plants. In one embodiment, the method further comprises step (d) growing plants from said rooted plantlets. Therefore, the method also comprises regenerating a whole plant from said part of NUN 50215 LEL.

(18) In a preferred embodiment, the part of the plant to be propagated is is a cutting, a cell culture or a tissue culture.

(19) The invention also provides for a vegetatively propagated plant of variety NUN 50215 LEL (or from progeny of said variety or from or a plant having all but one, two or three physiological and/or morphological characteristics of NUN 50215 LEL) wherein the plant has all of the morphological and physiological characteristics of NUN 50215 LEL when the characteristics are determined at the 5% significance level for plants grown under the same conditions. In another embodiment, the propagated plant has all but one, two or three of the morphological and physiological characteristics of NUN 50215 LEL when the characteristics are determined at the 5% significance level for plants grown under the same conditions. A part of said propagated plant or said propagated plant with one, two or three differences is also included.

(20) In an embodiment, the invention provides a method for producing a Leek plant part, preferably a shaft or leaf, comprising the steps of: a. Growing a plant of NUN 50215 LEL until it develops a leaf, or until it develops a shaft b. Collecting the leaf or shaft of step a)

(21) Preferably, the leaf or shaft is collected at harvest maturity. A plant of NUN 50215 LEL can be produced by seeding directly in the soil (e.g., field) or by germinating the seeds in controlled environment conditions (e.g., greenhouses) and optionally then transplanting the seedlings into the field. For example, the seed can be sown into prepared seed beds where they will remain for the entire production the crop. Leek can also be grown entirely in greenhouses

(22) In still another aspect the invention provides a method of producing a Leek plant, comprising crossing a plant of Leek NUN 50215 LEL with a second Leek plant at least once, allowing seed to develop and optionally harvesting said progeny seed. The skilled person can select progeny from said crossing. Optionally, the progeny is crossed twice, thrice, or four, five, six or seven times, and allowed to set seed. In one embodiment of the invention, the first step in crossing comprises planting seeds of a first and a second parent Leek plant, often in proximity so that pollination will occur; for example, mediated by insect vectors. Alternatively, pollen can be transferred manually. Where the plant is self-pollinated, pollination may occur without the need for direct human intervention other than plant cultivation. After pollination the plant can produce seed.

(23) In yet another aspect the invention provides a method of producing a plant, comprising selfing a plant of variety NUN 50215 LEL one or more times, and selecting a progeny plant from said selfing. In one aspect the progeny plant retains all the distinguishing characteristics of NUN 50215 LEL described above. In a different embodiment the progeny plant comprises all (or all but one, two or three) of the physiological and morphological characteristic of NUN 50215 LEL of Table 1, and/or Table 2. In a further embodiment the progeny plant comprises all physiological and morphological characteristic of NUN 50215 LEL when grown under the same environmental conditions.

(24) In other aspects, the invention provides a progeny plant of variety NUN 50215 LEL such as a progeny plant obtained by further breeding that variety. Further breeding with the variety of the invention includes selfing that variety one or more times and/or cross-pollinating that variety with another Leek plant or variety one or more times. In particular, the invention provides for a progeny plant that retains all the essential morphological and physiological characteristics of NUN 50215 LEL or, in another embodiment, a progeny plant that retains all, or all but one, two or three, of the morphological and physiological characteristics of NUN 50215 LEL, optionally all or all but one, two or three of the characteristics as listed in Table 1 and/or 2, when grown under the same environmental conditions, determined at the 5% significance level for numerical characteristics. In a preferred embodiment, the progeny is a first generation progeny, i.e. the ovule or the pollen (or both) used in the crossing is an ovule or pollen of variety NUN 50215 LEL, i.e. the pollen comes from an anther of NUN 50215 LEL and the ovule comes from an ovary of NUN 50215 LEL. In another aspect, the invention provides for a vegetative reproduction of the variety and a plant having all, or all but 1, 2, or 3 of the physiological and morphological characteristics of NUN 50215 LEL (e.g. as listed in Table 1 and/or 2).

(25) The invention also provides a method for collecting pollen of NUN 50215 LEL, comprising the steps of: a. Growing a plant of NUN 50215 LEL until at least one flower develops pollen b. Collecting the pollen of step a)

(26) Preferably, the pollen is collected when it is mature or ripe. A suitable method for collecting pollen comprises collecting anthers or the part of the anther that contains pollen, for example by cutting it off. Pollen can be collected in containers. Optionally, collected pollen can be used to pollinate a Leek flower.

(27) The morphological and/or physiological differences between two different individual plants of the invention (e.g. between NUN 50215 LEL and a progeny of NUN 50215 LEL) or between a plant of NUN 50215 LEL or progeny of said variety, or a plant having all, or all but 1, 2, or 3, of the physiological and morphological characteristics of NUN 50215 LEL (or all, or all but 1, 2, or 3 of the characteristics as listed in Table 1 and/or 2) and another known variety can easily be established by growing said variety next to each other or next to the other variety (in the same field, under the same environmental conditions), preferably in several locations which are suitable for said Leek cultivation, and measuring morphological and/or physiological characteristics of a number of plants (e.g., to calculate an average value and to determine the variation range/uniformity within the variety). For example, trials can be carried out in Acampo Calif., USA (N 38 degrees 07261/W 121 degrees 18 807, USA, whereby various characteristics, for example days from seeding to harvest, plant height, plant attitude, leaf shape, leaf color, leaf angle, shaft size, disease resistance, insect resistance, can be measured and directly compared for species of Leek. Thus, the invention comprises Leek plant having one, two or three physiological and/or morphological characteristics which are different from those of the plant of NUN 50215 LEL and which otherwise has all the physiological and morphological characteristics of the plant of NUN 50215 LEL, when determined at the 5% significance level for plants grown under the same environmental conditions. In a preferred embodiment, the different characteristic is affected by a mutation, optionally induced mutation, or by transformation.

(28) The morphological and physiological characteristics (and the distinguishing characteristics) of NUN 50215 LEL are provided in the Examples, in Table 1 and/or 2. Encompassed herein is also a plant obtainable from NUN 50215 LEL (e.g. by selfing and/or crossing and/or backcrossing with said variety and/or progeny of said variety) comprising all or all but one, two or three of the physiological and morphological characteristics of NUN 50215 LEL listed in Table 1 and/or 2 as determined at the 5% significance level for numerical characteristics or identical for non-numerical characteristics when grown under the same environmental conditions and/or comprising one or more (or all; or all except one, two or three) characteristics when grown under the same environmental conditions.

(29) Also at-harvest and/or post-harvest characteristics of leaves and shafts can be compared, such as cold storage holding quality, shaft size, and leaf waxiness can be measured using known methods.

(30) The morphological and/or physiological characteristics may vary somewhat with variation in the environment (such as temperature, light intensity, day length, humidity, soil, fertilizer use), which is why a comparison under the same environmental conditions is preferred. Colors can best be measured against The Munsell Book of Color (Munsell Color Macbeth Division of Kollmorgan Instruments Corporation) or using the Royal Horticultural Society Chart (World Wide Web at rhs.org.uk/Plants/RHS-Publications/RHS-colour-charts).

(31) In yet a further embodiment, the invention provides for a method of producing a new Leek plant. The method comprises crossing a plant of the invention i.e. NUN 50215 LEL, or a plant comprising all but 1, 2, or 3 of the morphological and physiological characteristics of said variety (as listed in Table 1 and/or 2), or a progeny plant thereof, either as male or as female parent, with a second Leek plant (or a wild relative of Leek) one or more times, and/or selfing a Leek plant according to the invention i.e. NUN 50215 LEL, or a progeny plant thereof, one or more times, and selecting progeny from said crossing and/or selfing. The second Leek plant may for example be a line or variety of the species Allium ampeloprasum, or other Allium species or even other Alliceae species.

(32) The invention provides for methods of producing plants which retain all the morphological and physiological characteristics of a plant of the invention i.e. NUN 50215 LEL. The invention provides also for methods of producing a plant comprising all but 1, 2, or 3 or more of the morphological and physiological characteristics of NUN 50215 LEL (e.g. as listed in Table 1 and/or 2), but which are still genetically closely related to said variety. The relatedness can, for example be determined by fingerprinting techniques (e.g., making use of isozyme markers and/or molecular markers such as Single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers, amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers, microsatellites, minisatellites, Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers, restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) markers and others). A plant is closely related to NUN 50215 LEL if its DNA fingerprint is at least 80%, 90%, 95% or 98% identical to the fingerprint of NUN 50215 LEL. In a preferred embodiment AFLP markers are used for DNA fingerprinting (Vos et al. 1995, Nucleic Acid Research 23: 4407-4414). A closely related plant may have a Jaccard's Similarity index of at least about 0.8, preferably at least about 0.9, 0.95, 0.98 or more (Parvathaneni et al., J. Crop Sci. Biotech. 2011 (March) 14 (1): 3943).

(33) The invention also provides a plant and a variety obtained or selected by applying these methods on NUN 50215 LEL. Such a plant may be produced by crossing and/or selfing, or alternatively, a plant may simply be identified and selected amongst plants of said variety, or progeny of said variety, e.g. by identifying a variant within NUN 50215 LEL or within progeny of said variety (e.g. produced by selfing) which variant differs from NUN 50215 LEL in one, two or three of the morphological and/or physiological characteristics (e.g. in one, two or three distinguishing characteristics), e.g. those listed in Table 1 and/or 2 or others. In one embodiment the invention provides a Leek plant having a Jaccard's Similarity index with NUN 50215 LEL of at least 0.8, e.g. at least 0.85, 0.9, 0.95, 0.98 or even at least 0.99.

(34) WO2013182646, which is incorporated by reference, relates to a non-destructive method for analyzing maternal DNA of a seed. In this method the DNA is dislodged from the seed coat surface and can be used to collect information on the genome of the maternal parent of the seed. This method for analyzing maternal DNA of a seed comprises the steps of contacting a seed with a fluid to dislodge DNA from the seed coat surface, and analyzing the DNA thus dislodged from the seed coat surface using methods known in the art. The skilled person is thus able to determine whether a seed has grown on a plant of a plant of the invention i.e. NUN 50215 LEL is a progeny of said variety, because the seed coat of the seed is a maternal tissue genetically identical to NUN 50215 LEL. In one embodiment, the present invention relates to a seed coat comprising maternal tissue of NUN 50215 LEL. In another embodiment the invention relates to a Leek seed comprising a maternal tissue of NUN 50215 LEL.

(35) By crossing and/or selfing also (one or more) single traits may be introduced into the variety of the invention i.e. NUN 50215 LEL (e.g., using backcrossing breeding schemes), while retaining the remaining morphological and physiological characteristics of said variety and/or while retaining one or more or all distinguishing characteristics. A single trait converted plant may thereby be produced. For example, disease resistance genes may be introduced, genes responsible for one or more quality traits, yield, etc. Both single genes (e.g. dominant or recessive) and one or more QTLs (quantitative trait loci) may be transferred into NUN 50215 LEL by breeding with said variety.

(36) Alternatively, a single trait converted plant or single locus converted plant of NUN 50215 LEL may be produced by the following steps a. obtaining a cell or tissue culture of cells of NUN 50215 LEL; b. genetically transforming or mutating said cells; c. growing the cells into a plant; and d. optionally selecting a plant that contains the desired single locus conversion
The skilled person is familiar with various techniques for genetically transforming a single locus in a plant cell, or mutating said cells.

(37) Any trait may be introduced into a plant according to the invention, i.e. NUN 50215 LEL, progeny of said variety or into a plant comprising all but 1, 2, or 3 or more of the morphological and physiological characteristics of NUN 50215 LEL (e.g. as listed in Table 1). Resistance to one or more of the following diseases or pests is preferably introduced into plants of the invention: Aphid resistance, Pickle Worm, Darkling Ground Beetle, Banded Cucumber Beetle, Mite, Western Spotted Cucumber Beetle, Leek Leafhopper, Leek Worm, Western Striped Cucumber Beetle or Leek Leafminer, Thrips tabaci, Leek moth and Onion fly. Other resistance genes, against pathogenic viruses, fungi, bacteria, nematodes, insects or other pests may also be introduced.

(38) Thus, invention also provides a method for developing a Leek plant in a Leek breeding program, using a Leek plant of the invention, or its parts as a source of plant breeding material. Suitable plant breeding techniques are recurrent selection, backcrossing, pedigree breeding, mass selection, mutation breeding and/or genetic marker enhanced selection. For example, in one aspect, the method comprises crossing NUN 50215 LEL or progeny of said variety, or a plant comprising all but 1, 2, or 3 or more of the morphological and physiological characteristics of NUN 50215 LEL (e.g. as listed in Table 1 and/or 2), with a different Leek plant, and wherein one or more offspring of the crossing are subject to one or more plant breeding techniques selected from the group consisting of recurrent selection, backcrossing, pedigree breeding, mass selection, mutation breeding and genetic marker enhanced selection (see e.g. Brotman et al., Theor Appl Genet (2002) 104:1055-1063). For breeding methods in general see Principles of Plant Genetics and Breeding, 2007, George Acquaah, Blackwell Publishing, ISBN-13: 978-1-4051-3646-4.

(39) The invention also provides a Leek plant comprising at least a first set of the chromosomes of Leek variety NUN 50215 LEL, a sample of seed of said variety having been deposited under Accession Number NCIMB 42794; optionally further comprising a single locus conversion or a mutation, wherein said plant has essentially all of the morphological and physiological characteristics of the plant comprising at least a first set of the chromosomes of said variety. In another embodiment, this single locus conversion confers a trait selected from the group consisting of yield, storage properties, color, male sterility, herbicide tolerance, insect resistance, pest resistance, disease resistance, environmental stress tolerance, modified carbohydrate metabolism and modified protein metabolism.

(40) In one embodiment, a plant according to the invention, i.e. NUN 50215 LEL may also be mutated (by e.g. irradiation, chemical mutagenesis, heat treatment, etc.) and mutated seeds or plants may be selected in order to change one or more characteristics of said variety. Methods such as TILLING may be applied to Leek populations in order to identify mutants. Similarly, NUN 50215 LEL may be transformed and regenerated, whereby one or more chimeric genes are introduced into the variety or into a plant comprising all but 1, 2, 3, or more of the morphological and physiological characteristics (e.g. as listed in Table 1 and/or 2). Transformation can be carried out using standard methods, such as Agrobacterium tumefaciens mediated transformation or biolistics, followed by selection of the transformed cells and regeneration into plants. A desired trait (e.g. genes conferring pest or disease resistance, herbicide, fungicide or insecticide tolerance, etc.) can be introduced into NUN 50215 LEL, or progeny of said variety, by transforming said variety or progeny of said variety with a transgene that confers the desired trait, wherein the transformed plant retains all or all but one, two or three of the phenotypic and/or morphological and/or physiological characteristics of NUN 50215 LEL or the progeny of said variety and contains the desired trait.

(41) The invention also provides a plant or a cell of a plant comprising a desired trait produced by mutating a plant of variety NUN 50215 LEL or a cell thereof and selecting a plant the desired trait, wherein the mutated plant retains all or all but one of the phenotypic and morphological characteristics of said variety, optionally as described for each variety in in Table 1 and/or 2, and contains the desired trait and wherein a representative sample of seed of variety NUN 50215 LEL has been deposited under Accession Number NCIMB 42794. In a further embodiment, the desired trait is selected from the group consisting of yield, herbicide tolerance, insect resistance, pest resistance, disease resistance, Alternaria resistance, Rust resistance, Purple blotch resistance, male sterility, environmental stress tolerance, modified carbohydrate metabolism, modified protein metabolism and ripening.

(42) A suitable method for inducing mutation in NUN 50215 LEL comprises the steps of: a. Exposing a seed, a plant or a plant part or a cell of NUN 50215 LEL to a mutagenic compound or to radiation, wherein a representative sample of seed of NUN 50215 LEL is deposited under Accession Number NCIMB 42794, b. Selecting a seed, a plant or a plant part or a cell of NUN 50215 LEL having a mutation c. Optionally growing and/or multiplying the seed, plant or plant part or cell of NUN 50215 LEL having the mutation.

(43) The invention also provides a plant having one, two or three physiological and/or morphological characteristics which are different from those of NUN 50215 LEL and which otherwise has all the physiological and morphological characteristics of said variety, wherein a representative sample of seed of variety NUN 50215 LEL has been deposited under Accession Number NCIMB 42794. In particular variants which differ from NUN 50215 LEL in none, one, two or three of the characteristics mentioned in Table 1 and/or 2 are encompassed.

(44) A part of a variety of the invention, i.e. NUN 50215 LEL (or of progeny of said varieties or of a plant having all physiological and/or morphological characteristics but one, two or three which are different from those of said variety) encompasses any cells, tissues, organs obtainable from the seedlings or plants, such as but not limited to: a Leek leaf or shaft or a part thereof, a cutting, hypocotyl, cotyledon, seed coat, pollen and the like. Such parts can be stored and/or processed further. Encompassed are therefore also food or feed products comprising a part of NUN 50215 LEL or a part of progeny of said varieties, or a part of a plant having all but one, two or three physiological and/or morphological characteristics of NUN 50215 LEL, comprising one or more of such parts, optionally processed (such as canned, chopped, cooked, roasted, in a sauce, in a sandwich, pasted, pured or concentrated, juiced, frozen, dried, pickled, or powdered).

(45) In one aspect a haploid plant and/or a doubled haploid plant of NUN 50215 LEL, or of a plant having all but one, two or three physiological and/or morphological characteristics of NUN 50215 LEL, or progeny of any of these, is encompassed herein. Haploid and doubled haploid (DH) plants can, for example, be produced by cell or tissue culture and chromosome doubling agents and regeneration into a whole plant. For DH production chromosome doubling may be induced using known methods, such as colchicine treatment or the like.

(46) In yet another aspect haploid plants and/or doubled haploid plants derived from NUN 50215 LEL that, when combined, make a set of parents of NUN 50215 LEL are encompassed herein. Thus the haploid plant and/or the doubled haploid plant of NUN 50215 LEL can be used in a method for generating parental lines of NUN 50215 LEL.

(47) Using methods known in the art like reverse synthesis of breeding lines or reverse breeding, it is possible to produce parental lines for a hybrid plant such as NUN 50215 LEL; where normally the hybrid is produced from the parental lines. Thus, this method introduces a tool that was not available in traditional breeding: a skilled person can take any individual heterozygous plant (called a phenotypically superior plant in Example 2 of WO2014076249; NUN 50215 LEL is such a plant) and generate a combination of parental lines (reverse breeding parental lines) that, when crossed, produce the variety NUN 50215 LEL. It is not necessary that the reverse breeding parental lines are identical to the original parental lines. Such new breeding methods are based on the segregation of individual alleles in the spores produced by a desired plant and/or in the progeny derived from the self-pollination of that desired plant, and on the subsequent identification of suitable progeny plants in one generation, or in a limited number of inbred cycles. Such a method is known from WO2014076249 or from Wijnker et al., Nature Protocols Volume: 9, Pages: 761-772 (2014) DOI: doi:10.1038/nprot.2014.049, which are enclosed by reference. Such method for producing parental lines for a hybrid organism, comprises the steps of: a) defining a set of genetic markers that are present in a heterozygous form (H) in a partially heterozygous starting organism; b) producing doubled haploid lines from spores of the starting organism: c) genetically characterizing the doubled haploid lines thus obtained for the said set of genetic markers to determine whether they are present in a first homozygous form (A) or in a second homozygous form (B); d) selecting at least one pair of doubled haploid lines that have complementary alleles for at least a subset of the genetic markers, wherein each member of the pair is suitable as a parental line for a hybrid organism.

(48) Thus in one aspect, the invention relates to a method of producing a combination of parental lines of a plant of the invention (NUN 50215 LEL) comprising the step of making doubled haploid cells from haploid cells from said plant or a seed of that plant; and optionally crossing these parental lines to produce and collect seeds. In another aspect, the invention relates to a combination of parental lines produced by this method. In still another aspect said combination of parental lines can be used to produce a seed or plant of NUN 50215 LEL when these parental lines are crossed. In still another aspect, the invention relates to a combination of parental lines from which a seed or plant having all physiological and/or morphological characteristics of NUN 50215 LEL (when the characteristics are determined at the 5% significance level for plants grown under the same conditions).

(49) In another aspect, the invention comprises a method for making doubled haploid cells from haploid cells of NUN 50215 LEL according to various methods known to the skilled person. A suitable method is colchicine treatment.

(50) In another alternative aspect, the invention provides a method of introducing a single locus conversion or single trait conversion or a desired trait into NUN 50215 LEL comprising: a. obtain a combination of a parental lines of NUN 50215 LEL, optionally through reverse synthesis of breeding lines, b. introduce a single locus conversion in at least one of the parents of step a; c. crossing the converted parent with the other parent of step a to obtain seed of NUN 50215 LEL
A combination of a male and a female parental line of NUN 50215 LEL can be generated by methods described herein, for example through reverse synthesis of breeding lines.

(51) In an embodiment of the invention, Step b) of the above methodintroduce a single locus conversion in at least one of the parents of step amay be done through the following method: i. obtaining a cell or tissue culture of cells of the parental line of NUN 50215 LEL; ii. genetically transforming or mutating said cells; iii. growing the cells into a plant; and iv. optionally selecting plants that contain the single locus conversion, the single trait conversion or the desired trait.

(52) In another embodiment of the invention, Step b) of the above methodintroduce a single locus conversion in at least one of the parents of step amay also be done through the following method: i. crossing the parental line of NUN 50215 LEL with a second Leek plant comprising the single locus conversion, the single trait conversion or the desired trait; ii. selecting Flprogeny plants that contain the single locus conversion, the single trait conversion or the desired trait; iii. crossing said selected progeny plants of step ii with the parental line of step i, to produce a backcross progeny plant; iv. selecting backcross progeny plants comprising the single locus conversion, the single trait conversion or the desired trait and otherwise all or all but one, two or three of the morphological and physiological characteristics the parental line of step i to produce selected backcross progeny plants; and v. optionally repeating steps iii and iv one or more times in succession to produce selected second, third or fourth or higher backcross progeny plants comprising the single locus conversion, the single trait conversion or the desired trait and otherwise all or all but one, two or three of the morphological and physiological characteristics the parental line of step i to produce selected backcross progeny plants, when grown in the same environmental conditions.
The invention further relates to plants obtained by this method.

(53) The above method is provided, wherein the single locus conversion concerns a trait, wherein the trait is yield or pest resistance or disease resistance. In one embodiment the trait is disease resistance and the resistance is conferred to Aphid resistance, Pickle Worm, Darkling Ground Beetle, Banded Cucumber Beetle, Mite, Western Spotted Cucumber Beetle, Leek Leafhopper, Leek Worm, Western Striped Cucumber Beetle or Leek Leafminer, Thrips tabaci, Leek moth and Onion fly. Other resistance genes, against pathogenic viruses, fungi, bacteria, nematodes, insects or other pests may also be introduced.

(54) Thus, the invention also provides a combination of parental lines which, when crossed, produce a seed or plant having all physiological and/or morphological characteristics of NUN 50215 LEL but one, two or three which are different (when grown under the same environmental conditions), as well as a seed or plant having all physiological and/or morphological characteristics of NUN 50215 LEL but one, two or three which are different (when the characteristics are determined at the 5% significance level for plants grown under the same conditions).

(55) Also provided is a plant part obtainable from variety NUN 50215 LEL or from progeny of said variety or from a plant having all but one, two or three physiological and/or morphological characteristics which are different from those of NUN 50215 LEL, or from a vegetatively propagated plant of NUN 50215 LEL (or from its progeny or from a plant having all or all but one, two or three physiological and/or morphological characteristics which are different from those of NUN 50215 LEL), being selected from the group consisting of a leaf, a harvested leaf, a part of a leaf, a shaft, a harvested shaft, a part of a shaft, a fruit, a harvested fruit, a part of a fruit, a leaf, a part of a leaf, pollen, an ovule, a cell, a petiole, a shoot or a part thereof, a stem or a part thereof, a root or a part thereof, a root tip, a cutting, a seed, a part of a seed, seed-coat or another maternal tissue which is part of a seed grown on NUN 50215 LEL, or hypocotyl, cotyledon, a scion, a stock, a rootstock, a pistil, an anther, and a flower or a part thereof.

(56) In still yet another aspect, the invention provides a method of determining the genotype of a plant of the invention comprising the step of detecting in the genome (e.g., a sample of nucleic acids) of the plant at least a first polymorphism or an allele. The skilled person is familiar with many suitable methods of genotyping, detecting a polymorphism or detecting an allele including restriction fragment length polymorphism identification (RFLP) of genomic DNA, random amplified polymorphic detection (RAPD) of genomic DNA, amplified fragment length polymorphism detection (AFLP), polymerase chain reaction (PCR), DNA sequencing, allele specific oligonucleotide (ASO) probes, and hybridization to DNA microarrays or beads. Alternatively, the entire genome could be sequenced. The method may, in certain embodiments, comprise detecting a plurality of polymorphisms in the genome of the plant, for example by obtaining a sample of nucleic acid from a plant and detecting in said nucleic acids a plurality of polymorphisms. The method may further comprise storing the results of the step of detecting the plurality of polymorphisms on a computer readable medium

(57) Marketable Leek leaves and shafts are generally sorted by size and quality after harvest. Alternatively the Leek leaves and shafts can be sorted by color or after-harvest treatments.

(58) All documents (e.g., patent publications) are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.

CITED REFERENCES

(59) WO2013182646 WO2014076249 Brotman et al., Theor Appl Genet (2002) 104:1055-1063 Colijn-Hooymans (1994), Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture 39: 211-2177) Parvathaneni et al., J. Crop Sci. Biotech. 2011 (March) 14 (1): 3943 Ren et al., In Vitro Cell.Dev.Biol.-Plant (2013) 49:223-229 Vos et al. 1995, Nucleic Acid Research 23: 4407-4414 Wijnker et al., Nature Protocols Volume: 9, Pages: 761-772 (2014) DOI: doi:10.1038/nprot.2014.049 Guidelines for the Conduct of Tests for Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability, TG/85/7 (UPOV, Geneva 2008); world wide web at upov.int/edocs/tgdocs/en/tg085.pdf.

Examples

(60) Development of NUN 50215 LEL

(61) The hybrid NUN 50215 LEL was developed from a male and female proprietary inbred line of Nunhems. The female and male parents were crossed to produce hybrid (F1) seeds of NUN 50215 LEL The seeds of NUN 50215 LEL can be grown to produce hybrid plants and parts thereof (e.g. Leek leaves and shafts). The hybrid NUN 50215 LEL can be propagated by seeds or vegetative.

(62) The hybrid variety is uniform and genetically stable. This has been established through evaluation of horticultural characteristics. Several hybrid seed production events resulted in no observable deviation in genetic stability. Coupled with the confirmation of genetic stability of the female and male parents the Applicant has concluded that NUN 50215 LEL is uniform and stable.

(63) Deposit Information

(64) A total of 2500 seeds of the hybrid variety NUN 50215 LEL will be deposited according to the Budapest Treaty by Nunhems B. V. on 26 Jul. 2017, at the NCIMB Ltd., Ferguson Building, Craibstone Estate, Bucksburn, Aberdeen AB21 9YA, United Kingdom (NCIMB). The deposit will be assigned NCIMB number 42794. A deposit of NUN 50215 LEL and of the male and female parent line is also maintained at Nunhems B. V.

(65) Access to the deposits will be available during the pendency of this application to persons determined by the Director of the U.S. Patent Office to be entitled thereto upon request. Subject to 37 C.F.R. 1.808(b), all restrictions imposed by the depositor on the availability to the public of the deposited material will be irrevocably removed upon the granting of the patent. The deposit will be maintained for a period of 30 years, or 5 years after the most recent request, or for the enforceable life of the patent whichever is longer, and will be replaced if it ever becomes nonviable during that period. Applicant does not waive any rights granted under this patent on this application or under the Plant Variety Protection Act (7 USC 2321 et seq.).

(66) The most similar variety to NUN 50215 LEL is referred to as Reference Variety, a variety from Nunhems with the commercial name Krypton. In Table 1 a comparison between NUN 50215 LEL and the Reference Variety will be shown based on a trial in the USA during the trial season 2018. Trial location Acampo, Calif., USA (N38.192873, W121.232637). Transplanting date for NUN 50215 LEL and REFERENCE VARIETY: 25 Oct. 2017.

(67) A trial of 40 plants of each variety, from which at least 15 plants or plant parts were randomly selected, will be used to measure characteristics. For numerical characteristics averages will be calculated. For non-numerical characteristics the type/degree will be determined. In Table 1 the USDA descriptors of NUN 50215 LEL (this application) and the Reference Variety (commercial variety) are listed, which will be measured in the trial to be performed.

(68) In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a plant having the physiological and morphological characteristics of NUN 50215 LEL as will be presented in Table 1.

(69) TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Objective description of varieties NUN 50215 LEL and Reference Variety Application Variety Reference NUN Variety Descriptor 50215 LEL Krypton 1. Harvest time Days from seeding to harvest 2. Plant Plant height in cm 45.51 41.83 Plant length in cm (at harvest) 50.77 48.98 Foliage attitude: 1 = erect (Reese); 2 = semi- 2 2 erect (Linex); 3 = horizontal (De Carentan 2) 3. Shaft (Column) Shaft length (base of plant above roots to 7.25 7.93 divergence of the 1.sup.st non-senescing leaf) in cm Shaft diameter in mm 2.61 2.71 Shaft ratio length/diameter 2.78 2.93 Shaft bulb formation: 1 = absent or very weak; 2 1 2 = weak; 3 = medium; 4 = strong; 5 = very strong Shaft narrowing towards the base: 1 = absent; 1 2 2 = present 4. Leaf blade Leaf blade bending: 1 = strong (Blauwgroene 2 3 winter); 2 = medium (Flextan); 3 = weak (Bell) Leaf blade length in cm 44.19 41.11 Leaf blade width in cm 3.96 4.24 Leaf angle (degrees from column) 58.8 49.33 Leaf blade color: 1 = yellow green (Jaune gros 4 3 du Poitou); 2 = green (Premier); 3 = gray green (Zwitserse Reuzen); blue green (Blauwgroene Winter) Leaf blade color intensity: 1 = light; 2 = 2 2 medium; 3 = dark Leaf blade anthocyanin coloration: 1 = absent 1 1 or very weak; 2 = weak; 3 = medium; 4 = strong; 5 = very strong Leaf blade waxiness: 1 = absent or very weak 3 3 (Kingston); 2 = weak (Carlton); 3 = medium (Linx); 4 = strong (Flextan); 5 = very strong

(70) Table 1 contains typical values. Values may vary due to environment. Other values that are substantially equivalent are also within the scope of the invention. N.A.=not applicable; n.r.=not recorded.