Pineapple plant named ‘FR20966’

Abstract

A new and distinct pineapple, Ananas comosus, plant named FR20966, comprising certain unique traits, standing out Fusarium resistance obtained after crossing and backcrossing sexual crossing between plants of Imperial variety (non-patented) and the variety MD-2 (non-patented). The new variety FR20966 in particular was the result of the back-cross of a selected plant of the 1/2.1531 line, with a selected plant of MD-2, to achieve the combination of characters of interest that qualify FR20966 as a variety of commercial potential. The invention incorporates stable, inheritable resistance to Fusariosis disease in a pineapple variety capable of addressing all of the high quality requirements of global export markets.

Claims

1. A new and distinct Ananas comosus plant named FR20966, as illustrated and described herein.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PHOTOGRAPHS

(1) The accompanying pictures illustrate the overall appearance of the new Ananas comosus var. comosus FR20966 showing infection damage caused by artificial inoculation with four different isolates of Fusarium guttiforme showing the colors as reasonably possible with colored reproductions of this type. The lesion caused by direct inoculation with an infected needle on the fruit helped verify the resistance trait (earlier established by immersion of young plants in a suspension of Fusarium guttiforme's most virulent isolate), when comparing reaction of fruit pulp tissue of the new pineapple variety FR20966 with MD-2:

(2) FIG. 1. View of the new variety FR20966 at 5.3 months after forcing (MAF).

(3) FIG. 2. Cross sectional view of FR20966 and MD-2 fruit inoculated with Fusarium guttiforme isolates DM017, DMB35, DMB37 and DMB40 at 5.3 MAF.

(4) FIG. 3. Longitudinal section view of Fusarium guttiforme inoculation site on fruit of FR20966 variety and MD-2 fruit at 5.3 MAF.

(5) FIG. 4. External view of Fusarium guttiforme inoculation site on fruit of FR20966 and MD-2 varieties at 5.3 MAF.

(6) FIG. 5. External view of inflorescence of FR20966 and MD-2 varieties at 59 days after floral induction.

DETAILED BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION

(7) The new Ananas comosus cultivar FR20966 has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. However, the plants were grown under environmental conditions and cultural practices which approximate those generally used in commercial pineapple growing operations. The phenotype of the new cultivar may still vary depending on the environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity, light intensity, and photoperiod without any change made to the genotype of the plant.

(8) The aforementioned photographs, together with the following observations, measurements and values describing plants of FR20966 variety are based on observations made under optimally fertilized and growing conditions, in the region of Limoeiro do Norte, Cear, Brazil (latitude 5.21945833 and longitude 37.914505), where the temperatures generally range from 15.96-38.70 C., and an annual rainfall average of 746 mm.

(9) The color terminology and designation reported here are in accordance with the Munsell Color Notation for Plants Tissues published by Munsell Color Macbeth, a division of Kollmorgen Corporation, Baltimore, Md. USA.

(10) The following description was made based on a population of FR20966 plants, the BC2 hybrid obtained through hand pollination of parental lines in 2015 and planted in 2018 and fruit harvested in 2020 and new propagules produced from this plant planted in 2020. Plant identification: Name: Ananas comosus var. comosus FR20966. Parental lines: Selected plant BC1 1/2.1531 backcrossed to MD-2. Origin: Conventional genetic improvement (hand pollination), through crossing and backcrossing. Classification: Botanical: Bromeliaceae or pineapple family. Subfamily: Bromelioidae. Genus: Ananas. Subgenus: comosus. Variety: FR20966. Commercial: Bromeliad fruit plant (pineapple). Form: Terrestrial (in plantation), with overlapping, sessile leaves from a funnel-formed rosette, surrounding a composite inflorescence (during anthesis), with few or no slips in the fruit peduncle and suckers that are produced in the stem and originate subsequent crops. General description: FR20966 (before anthesis). Growth habit: Semi-erect. Stem: I. General.Short, vertical, and covered by overlapping leaves, each leaf with a dominant axillary bud. II. Stem texture.Glabrous and smooth. III. Stem size.A) Length (above soil level): usually between 7.00-24.50 cm at anthesis. B) Diameter between 6.20-6.50 cm at ground level to the anthesis. IV. Stem shape.Cylindrical and with a narrower diameter at the distal part. V. Stem color.Whitish in color (5Y 8/4 in the Munsell color chart) Leaves: I. General.Closely overlapping sessile leaves (formed in acropetal succession) forming a dense rosette, the outline of which in longitudinal section is roughly heart shaped. The number of leaves fluctuates between 42-83 with a 5/13 phyllotaxy. II. Texture.A) Upper epidermal area: Glabrous, semirigid and channeled (or concave) except at the leaf tip. B) Lower epidermal area: Finely striated (longitudinally) and appears covered with a white layer consisting of scale like trichomes. III. Leaf arrangement.Alternate and in rosette shape. IV. Leaf margins.Flat, with small deltoid cuspidate spines, regularly spaced and more prevalent, especially when grown under dry and hot conditions. These spines are most commonly found on the distal portions of the leaves and range in size from 0.70 to 1.50 mm. V. Leaf venation.Parallel. VI. Leaf shape.Leaves are not uniform in shape and vary with the position of the leaf on the stem. The basal or oldest leaves are lanceolate while the base is considerably expanded. There is a noticeable narrowing in width between achlorophyllous (basal) and chlorophyllous (or main portion) of the leaves. The longest or most mature leaves are lanceolate in shape, but the base is without the arcuate expansions of the preceding leaves. The remaining leaves (or center leaves of the plant rosette) are lanceolate in form with no expansion of width into the base. The shape of the leaf apex is accuminate. VII. Leaf size (to anthesis).A) Length: Usually between 82.0-103.0 cm for those D leaves with a non chlorophyllous base that usually is between 5.0-8.0 cm in length. B) Width: Normally between 3.5-6.5 cm in the mid leaf area of the longest leaves. The expanded basal disk usually has a maximum width of 5.6-10.3 cm. C) Thickness: In the longest leaves, it usually varies between 2.2-3.1 mm at the center of the mid leaf area and decrease laterally between 0.9-1.6 mm at the margin, while becoming slightly thinner towards the tip. The expanded basal disk at the mid stem area usually has a maximum thickness of 1.6-3.0 mm at the center of the blade and tapering laterally toward margins up to 0.9-1.4 mm. VIII. Leaf color like MD-2, mostly lacking anthocyanin.A) Upper epidermal surface: 1. General: dominant color is commonly dark green. The color of the basal disk is predominantly white and light green; achlorophyllous basal disk area is commonly pale white. Mid leaf area: commonly dark green (7.5GY 3/2 in the Munsell color chart). Leaf tip area: commonly dark green (7.5GY 3/2 in the Munsell color chart). B) Lower epidermal surface (underside): General: commonly grayish green (2.5GY 5/2 in the Munsell color chart) with pale white basal disk area (2.5GY 8/2 in the Munsell color chart). Inflorescence (at anthesis): I. General.Flower composite from 75-128 fruitlets borne per inflorescence of a long peduncle of approximately 7.0-24.5 cm length at the apical meristem. Individual bisexual flowers that consist of three petals, three sepals, six stamens, three stigmas and three carpels. The inflorescence is self-incompatible producing edible fruit parthenocarpically (production of fruit without fertilization of ovules). II. Texture.Glabrous and fibrous. III. Shape.Oval with slightly raised flowers with a light red to grayish red color in the crown. IV. Size and color.Comparable to specimens of Ananas comosus var. comosus. Petal size: 1.0-1.5 cm. Petal color in the apex: light purple (5RP 4/6 in the Munsell color chart) for the upper surface, and white for the lower surface. V. Sepal size.0.53-0.94 cm. Sepal color: yellowish brown (5Y 5/4 in the Munsell color chart) for both upper and lower surfaces. VI. Floral bracts length.From 1.27-2.21 cm, serrated margins (with tiny spines); yellowish brown color (7.5YR 4/2 in the Munsell color chart). Crown (at harvest): I. General.Visually one crown. Visually one crown, composed on average of 57-81 leaves. Crown leaves are short, lanceolate in shape and erect at anthesis, measuring of 3.1-8.5 cm. II. Leaf arrangement.Alternate and in rosette shape. III. Leaf margins.Entire with smooth borders. Seldom very small spines in the tip of one leaf. IV. Size at harvest (under semi-arid conditions; could be longer and heavier when grown during the rainy season).Average 4.5-18.0 cm. Weight: average 35-170g. Diameter: 6.3-9.6 cm. V. Shape.Crown normally not exceeding length nor width of fruit and with semirigid leaves. VI Attitude.Upright. VII. Color of the terminal crown leaves.A. Upper surface: Dark green color at the apex (5GY 4/4 in the Munsell color chart) and dark green at the base (5GY 4/4 the Munsell color chart). B. Lower surface: grayish green (2.5GY 5/2 in the Munsell color chart). Fruit (at harvest): I. Size.Usually with a weight between 1,042-2,734 grams and average weight of 1,896 grams. Fruit core's diameter 2.78-3.35 cm. Fruit core's color: yellow, similar to MD2 (5Y 7/6 in the Munsell color chart). II. Shape.Cylindrical with flat and medium size fruitlets. Medium-big crown (crown normally not exceeding length nor width of fruit) with thin and semirigid leaves. Fruit's height 12.10-18.70 cm, fruit's diameter: 11.60-15.20 cm. III. How borne.The development of the fruit occurs from the apical meristem of the plant medium sized peduncle, usually between 6.00-16.40 cm length. No slips available for evaluation. 6 long peduncle bracts, with spines on the edges and of medium green to dark green color (7.5GY 3/2 in the Munsell color chart) are generally present at the base of the fruit. IV. Color.A) Shell: commonly grayish green at early maturity (2.5Y 7/6 in the Munsell color chart), with yellowish brown bract (2.5Y 7/6 in the Munsell color chart). Fruit with yellow peduncle (5Y 8/4 in the Munsell color chart). V. Fruit flesh.Dense, firm, medium in fiber and juiciness, emitting characteristic pineapple aroma; flesh color distinctly yellow, similar to MD2 (2.5Y 8/6 in the Munsell color chart). VI. Brix.Typically, 13.8-16.0 degrees, standing out from their parents. VII. Total acid levels.Usually between 0.37-0.94 milligrams of citric acid/ml of juice. VIII. Vitamin C content reported as ascorbic acid content.Regularly between 24.57-54.70 mg/100 ml of juice. IX. Plant/fruit resistance/susceptibility to pest and diseases.The plant of the new variety FR20966 performs very similar to MD-2 differentiating mainly in its resistance to Fusarium guttiforme. Table 2 shows the comparison of pineapple varieties FR20966, MD-2 and Champaka (not patented) and their resistance to Fusarium guttiforme. Others: I. Fertility.This plant is self-incompatible. This is the reason why the presence of sexual seeds is almost null. The material used for planting are suckers, fruit crowns and vitroplants. II. Vigor.This plant exhibits similar vigor as its parents, the 1/2.1531 line, and the MD-2 variety. III. Yield.A population of this pineapple can have an agronomic yield from 67-177 ton/ha. IV. Plant use.The fruit will be commercialized within the fresh fruit and processed fruit for the export market.

(11) Summary of the special characteristics: the FR20966 plants present the following differences when compared to its parental lines: A. Resistance to Fusarium guttiforme; MD-2 is very susceptible to this pathogen, while FR20966 exhibits total resistance. B. The fruit of the FR20906 line has a predominantly cylindrical shape, with a slightly larger diameter in the middle, giving a gentle curvature to its profile. During the ripening process, the fruit shows a uniform coloration, with progressive and homogeneous color development from the base to the apex. C. The crown of the fruit from the FR20906 line is classified as small to medium in size, which significantly distinguishes it from the MD2 variety. D. The fruit of the FR20906 line features a pulp with low porosity and a firm texture. E. Plant with little or none slips: MD-2 variety produces between 1-3 slips per plant, and the 1/2.1531 produces between 0-1 slips per plant. By comparison, FR20966 reduces cosmetic and pest problems that can be originated by the contact of the slips with the fruit. F. At full maturity, the resistance to Fusarium guttiforme allows the FR20966 to be harvested at the optimal point of ripeness, which permits consistently high sugar content and Brix levels similar to the MD-2 variety when grown under similar conditions. G. As a result of the backcross process. FR20966 has acquired resistance to Fusarium guttiforme, just like the 1/2.1531 but with an improved fruit size and internal quality similar to the MD-2. This combination of characteristics is important to differentiate this hybrid from its parents; as shown on Table 3, when reproduced asexually, these characteristics are stable and reproducible for successive generations.

(12) TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Average data for select organoleptic parameters and fruit size of the FR20966 hybrid. Ascorbic Citric Num- Acid Acid Fruit ber Gener- (m g/ (mg/ Weight of ation n Brix 100 ml) ml) (g) slips FR20966 23 15.07 38.10 0.54 1,896 0 MD-2 71 16.3 61.4 0.95 1,949 0 (data for FR20966 represent observations from evaluated when backcrossing MD-2 with 1/2.1531 hybrid; data for MD-2 represents the average score for MD-2 variety in the region). Individual plant description: The following is an overview of FR20966 hybrid, a new pineapple plant variety, that was developed through hybridization process in Limoeiro do Norte, Cear, Brazil. A non-limiting description of an exemplary single plant of the claimed plant variety is as follows and intended to provide with specificity an individual plant: Plant age.14.53 months after planting plus 5.30 months after forcing. Plant growth habit.Semi-upright. Plant diameter.150 cm between opposite leaf tips. Plant height.120 cm above ground surface. Stem.Length. 22 cm above ground surface. Diameter. Approximately 6.3 cm above ground surface. Individual plant description: Leaves: I. Number.63 leaves. II. Length.101 cm for the longest leaf. III. Width.(Largest leaves) at mid leaf approximately 6.4 cm. Leaf piping is absent. IV. Thickness.2.9 mm along the axis. V. Color.A) Upper epidermal chlorophyllous area: Commonly dark green (7.5GY 3/2in the Munsell color chart). B) Upper epidermal non chlorophyllous area: commonly pale white (2.5GY 8/2 in the Munsell color chart). C) Lower epidermal area: Commonly grayish green (2.5GY 5/2 in the Munsell color chart). Leaf anthocyanin coloration may appear slightly on some plants. Individual plant description: Inflorescence: General.Composite inflorescence borne on a long peduncle at the apical meristem. The inflorescence is composed of 119 flowers, which eventually lead to an equal number of fruitlets.

(13) TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Petals: Description of size and texture of flowers of FR20966 hybrid Inflorescence ID Trait Note 14 Size of bracts (cm) 1.27-2.21 15 Petal: color of apex (purple 2 red), base (white) 16 Petal length (mm) 10-15 N/A Petal width (cm) 0.50-0.70 N/A Petal Height (cm) 1.3-1.8 N/A Petal texture very finely textured and smooth feel

(14) TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Reproductive organs. Description of size and shape of reproductive organs of FR20966 hybrid. Trait Note Inflorescence Style (mm) 7.1-9.1 Stamen (mm) 5.7-8.3 Style shape tubular Stamen shape tubular Style color Base = white, top - pale purple Filament color Filament base = white, filament top - pale purple Anther color Pale yellow Pollen color transparent

(15) TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 4 Peduncule: length and diameter of the peduncle of FR20966 hybrid are as follows. Peduncule ID Trait Note 21 Length (cm) 6.0-16.4 22 Diameter (cm) 2.4-3.7

(16) TABLE-US-00005 TABLE 5 Susceptibility to pest and diseases of different commercial varieties to Fusarium guttiforme (FR20966 is resistant and Champaka and MD-2 are susceptible). Pineapple Variety Pest/Disease FR20966 MD-2 Champaka Fusarium guttiforme. R+ S+ S

(17) The pineapple variety FR20966 has a post-harvest shelflife similar to MD-2 variety, showing similar performance in shell dehydration studies.

(18) FR20966 fruit general characteristics are as follows (A) a fruitlet apex which is flat; (B) the flesh density is medium; (C) the number fruitlets per syncarp is 75-128; (D) the fruitlet characteristics are as follows:

(19) TABLE-US-00006 TABLE 6 ID Trait Note Fruit 31 Fruit shape (cylindrical) 3 32 Fruit length (cm) 12.1-18.7 33 Fruit diameter (cm) 11.6-15.20 34 Predominant color of mature eye 6 (medium yellow) 35 Fruit: Size (medium) 5 N/A Size of eye diameter width (cm) 1.9-3.4 N/A Size of eye length (cm) 1.9-3.4 N/A Color of immature eye (grayish green) 4 37 Fruitlet apex (flat) 2 38 Evenness of color of eyes (even) 1 I. Shell color.FR20966 shell color at mature (2.5Y 7/6 in the Munsell color chart) and immature (5Y 5/4 in the Munsell color chart) stages. II. Weight and shape of fruit.FR20966 average fruit weight is similar to the MD-2, and Champaka; FR20966 has a cylindrical shape slightly enlarged in the center. III. Ascorbic acid.FR20966 has a higher content of ascorbic acid than its relative A. comosus cv. IMPERIAL, but similar to MD-2 variety. IV. Citric acid.FR20966 citric acid content is similar to MD-2. V. Brix.The sugar content (measured as brix degrees) of FR20966 is slightly higher to that found on MD-2. VI. Age to forcing.FR20966 is vigorous and can reach forcing plant size 8-17 months after planting (shorter when using vegetative propagation material, and longer when starting with seed). Although plant development time to forcing depends on the size of planting material used and the desired plant weight at floral induction, the above figures are similar to those achieved by the MD-2 variety, which reaches an optimal forcing size in 8.5 months after planting when using vegetative propagation material. VII. Leaf spines.This characteristic is commonly used to differentiate pineapple plants from other varieties. The color of the leaf spines are as follows: Tip: dark green like MD-2 (7.5GY 3/2 in the Munsell color chart), base: dark green like MD-2 (7.5GY 3/2 in the Munsell color chart). FR20966 does not have conspicuous or regular thorns on the leaf like its parental 1/2.1531. It does parental MD-2, although MD-2 often presents irregular thorns on the edges of the leaf blade as well. Fruit quality of FR20966 when compared with other pineapple varieties: most pineapple varieties grown worldwide are produced for local consumption, and very few are grown for international commercialization and global distribution. The fruit characteristics bread into FR20966 were specifically chosen to comply with the strictest quality standards of export markets like those of North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. As shown in Table 7, FR20966 compares very favorably against MD-2, the pineapple variety that has achieved most notoriety to date in global markets.

(20) TABLE-US-00007 TABLE 7 Comparison of FR20966 against other varieties on some of the most important characteristics relevant to fresh fruit destined for exportation. Ascorbic Acid (mg/ # Of slips Fruit weight (g) 100 ml) Variety/ Aver- Aver- Aver- Cultivar .sup.(11) age Range age Range age FR20966.sup.(1) 0 0-1 1896 1042-2734 38.10 MD-2.sup.(2) 1.2 0-3 1820 1070-2560 53.06 Morada.sup.(3) 7.57 4-9 1887 1566-2000 20.03 Honey Gold 1.5 0-3 1033 450-1678 21.14 Champaka 1.1 1710 420-3010 12.91 153.sup.(3) Champaka 1.5 2328 F152 CO-2.sup.(4) 2-3 2059 1297-2590 Singapore 2-12 1000 Spanish.sup.(5) Sarawak.sup.(5) 0 2000-4000 Mauritius.sup.(5) 0 500-1500 Josephine.sup.(6) 1100-1300 Scarlett.sup.(6) 1400-2000 Red Spansh.sup.(7) 1-3 1200-2000 T'ainung 11.sup.(7) 6.9 991 733-1269 Imperial.sup.(8) 9 1792 Perolera.sup.(8) 8-10 1800 Pernambuco.sup.(9) 1000-1500 Primavera.sup.(9) 7-10 1300 Queen.sup.(10) 10 500-1000 26 Ascorbic Acid Citric Acid (mg/ (mg/ml) Brix Variety/ 100 ml) Aver- Aver- Cultivar .sup.(11) Range age Range age Range FR20966.sup.(1) 24.57-54.70 0.54 0.37-0.94 15.07 13.8-16.0 MD-2.sup.(2) 37.00-69.06 0.6 0.36-0.84 15.55 12.9-17.2 Morada.sup.(3) 9.90-24.90 0.69 0.58-0.86 13.51 12.2-15.1 Honey Gold 14.73-37.36 0.98 0.67-1.33 16.18 14.4-18.1 Champaka 8.10-17.72 0.72 0.54-0.90 14.33 11.6-17.0 153.sup.(3) Champaka 0.73 14.97 F152 CO-2.sup.(4) 30.80-55.50 0.42-0.91 15.0-16.7 Singapore 0.50-0.60 10.0-12.0 Spanish.sup.(5) Sarawak.sup.(5) 0.30-0.65 14.0-17.0 Mauritius.sup.(5) 0.40-0.60 15.0-17.0 Josephine.sup.(6) 17.0-22.0 Scarlett.sup.(6) 15.0-18.0 Red Spansh.sup.(7) 12.00 T'ainung 11.sup.(7) 1.40-18.50 0.5 0.40-0.6 14.00 13.2-15.1 Imperial.sup.(8) 0.62 15.80 Perolera.sup.(8) 20.00-40.00 0.64 13.10 14.0-16.0 Pernambuco.sup.(9) Primavera.sup.(9) 0.51 13 Queen.sup.(10) 0.56 14.0-16.0 (data for FR20966 represent observations from the first plant evaluated when backcrossing MD-2 with 1/2.1531 hybrid; data for MD-2 represents the average score for MD-2 variety in the region). .sup.(1)FR20966 fruit harvested in Brazil. .sup.(2)Pindeco's historical data base and monthly research report April 2001. .sup.(3)Pindeco's fruit historical data base. Pindeco's forcing plant weight data base. .sup.(4)Plant Pat. No. 8,863. (5)Wee, Y. C. 1972. Some common pineapple cultivars of west Malaysia. Malays Pineapple pp 7-13. .sup.(6)Bartholomew et al. 2003 The Pineapple, Botany, Production and Uses. .sup.(7)Chang, Ching-Chyn, 1995 Tainung No. 13. Pineapple. Jour. Agric. Res. China 44(2): 287-296. .sup.(8)Pinto da Cunha et al. 0 abacaxizeiro. Pineapple News Issue No 10 May 2003. .sup.(9)Pinto da Cunha et al. 0 abacaxizeiro. Py et al. The pineapple Cultivation and uses. .sup.(10)Del Monte pineapple germplasm collection database. .sup.(11)Cultivars are unpatented unless indicated otherwise.

REFERENCES CITED

(21) MATOS, A. P. (2008) Perdas causadas pela F. guttiforme. Available in https://www.embrapa.br/busca-de-publicacoes/-/publicacao/981520/situacao-e-perspectivas-da-abacaxicultura-no-amazonas. MATOS, A. P. & JUNEGHANS, D. T. Variedades de abacaxi resistentes a F. guttiforme. 2006. Cruz das Almas, B A. Available in https://ainfo.cnptia.embrapa.br/digital/bitstream/item/42932/1/VARIEDADES-ABACAXI-ARISTOTELES.pdf. Munsell Color chart for Plant Tissues. published by Munsell pilp Macbeth, a division of Kollmorgen Corporation, Baltimore, Md. USA. Cabral, J. R. S., Matos, A. P. de and Junghans, D. T. 2003. Desenvolvimento de hbridos de abacaxi resistentes fusariose. Cruz da Almas, BA, Embrapa-CNPMF, Comunicado Tcnico 88:4. Matos, A. P. de, Cabral, J. R. S., Cordeiro, Z. J. M. and Ferreira, D. M. V. 2001. Controle da fusariose do abacaxizeiro. Cruz das Almas-BA, Embrapa Mandioca e Fruticultura, Circular Tcnica 42:4. Matos, A. P. de, Cabral, J. R. S. and Caldas, R. C. 2004. Reao de gentipos de abacaxizeiro incidncia do escurecimento-interno do fruto. Proceedings of the XVIII Congresso Brasileiro de Fruticultura, Sociedade Brasileira de Fruticultura, Florianpolis, S C, Cd-rom.