Multicellular living organisms and unmodified parts thereof and – Plant – seedling – plant seed – or plant part – per se – Higher plant – seedling – plant seed – or plant part
Reexamination Certificate
1998-08-31
2001-10-30
Hutzell, Paula (Department: 1638)
Multicellular living organisms and unmodified parts thereof and
Plant, seedling, plant seed, or plant part, per se
Higher plant, seedling, plant seed, or plant part
C800S298000, C800S260000, CPLTS114000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06310276
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a novel plant which belongs to the genus Limonium and has a characteristic of undergoing flower bud differentiation without encountering low temperatures.
2. Description of the Background
Limonium plants, which are generally called statice, are ornamental plants used as cut flowers or the like. These plants have a characteristic that they do not form flower buds unless encountering low temperatures. Thus, generally, these plants are seeded in fall to meet with low temperatures in winter. Plants seeded in fall will flower around April to May in the next year.
In order to induce their flowering at an earlier stage (sometime from December to March), an artificial low temperature treatment must be given. At present, forcing culture of Limonium plants to achieve early flowering is carried out as described below.
In case of seedling propagation, seeds are sown in seeding boxes around August. One day after the seeding, when the seeds have absorbed moisture and become active, they are placed in a refrigerator at 2-4° C. for 30-40 days to induce flower bud differentiation with low temperature stimulation. Around September, the refrigerated seedlings are taken out of the refrigerator and raised in pots. Then, they are transplanted in a greenhouse in soil beds. When the temperature considerably drops around November, the inside of the greenhouse is heated to thereby promote flow stalk development and flowering.
In case of vegetative reproduction using herbaceous cuttings, mericlones or the like, axillary buds or apical meristems are collected from the plants with flower buds already differentiated. The seedlings resulting therefrom are grown under low temperature conditions. Then, they are planted in a greenhouse in fall. Thereafter, they are cultivated in the same manner as in seedling propagation.
Although the above-mentioned methods make it possible to induce the flowering of Limonium plants at an early stage, there have the following problems.
First, investment to facilities such as refrigerators to provide low temperatures is required.
Secondly, since seedlings are kept under darkness in a refrigerator (which is different from their natural growing conditions) for a long period, a large number of plant bodies are withered when they are taken out of the refrigerator.
Further, if the plants taken out of the refrigerator meet with high temperatures, flower stalk development will not occur due to devernalization. They will not flower unless they are vernalized again by low temperatures. In order to avoid devernalization, seeding time is chosen so as for the seedlings to be taken out of the refrigerator in the fall when the temperature is cool enough, or seedlings must be raised in the air-conditioned room until there is no danger of devernalization (i.e., the temperature is sufficiently low). In addition, when the seedlings raised in the air-conditioned room are planted in a greenhouse, the temperature of the greenhouse must be sufficiently low to prevent devernalization. Thus, flowering time can be advanced only to a certain extent, which is dependent on the temperature of the place of cultivation).
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The problems described above are attributable to the property of Limonium plants that they will not flower unless they encounter low temperatures (i.e. low temperature requirement). Thus, these problems can be solved if a plant which can flower without low temperature requirement can be created.
It is an objective of the present to provide a plant which belongs to the genus Limonium without low temperature requirement for flowering from the above-mentioned viewpoint.
Toward the solution of the above problems, the present inventors have made intensive and extensive researches and, as a result, have found a Limonium line in the fields that flowers at an early stage. By repeating selection and mass-crossing using this line, the inventors have succeeded in fixing a line without low temperature requirement. The present invention has been achieved based on the thus fixed line.
The present invention relates to a plant which belongs to the genus Limonium, having a characteristic of undergoing flower bud differentiation and flower stalk development within 50 days from seeding even without exposure to low temperatures of 25° C. or below.
The present invention also relates to a method for creating the plant which belongs to the genus Limonium, which comprises the following steps: (i) crossing SG4-15 line or its progeny with another line which belongs to the genus Limonium; (ii) mass-crossing the resultant F1 hybrid; and (iii) selecting from the resultant F2 hybrid those individuals with a characteristic of undergoing flower bud differentiation and flower stalk development within 50 days from seeding even without exposure to low temperatures of 25° C. or below.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Hereinbelow, the present invention is described in detail.
The term “a plant which belongs to the genus Limonium” used in the present invention primarily means a plant which belongs to
Limonium sinuatum
. However, “a plant which belongs to the genus Limonium” is not limited to this species.
The plant of the invention which belongs to the genus Limonium has a characteristic of undergoing flower bud differentiation and flower stalk development at an early stage even without exposure to low temperatures of 25° C. or below. The term “an early stage” used herein means within 50 days from seeding or a state of growth in which the number of leaves is 50 or less. Most of the conventional Limonium plants do not undergo flower stalk development and flower bud formation unless they encounter low temperatures of 25° C. or below. Although some varieties undergo flower stalk development under temperature conditions of 25° C. or above, the time of their flower stalk development is late; usually, it takes 100 days from seeding. No varieties are known that undergo flower stalk development within 50 days from seeding or in a state of growth in which the number of leaves is 50 or less.
The plant of the invention, belonging to the genus Limonium, can be created by (i) crossing a line which belongs to the genus Limonium which does not have low temperature requirement with another line which belongs to the genus Limonium; (ii) mass-crossing the resultant F1 hybrid; and (iii) selecting from the resultant F2 hybrid those individuals with a characteristic of undergoing flower bud differentiation and flower stalk development within 50 days from seeding without low temperatures of 25° C. or below; or those individuals with a characteristic of undergoing flower bud differentiation and flower stalk development in a state of growth in which the number of leaves is 50 or less even without low temperatures of 25° C. or below.
As the “line which belongs to the genus Limonium which does not have low temperature requirement” used in the invention, SG4-15 line or its progeny may be given, for example. Seeds of SG4-15 line are possessed by the applicant, who guarantees the release of these seeds stipulated in Article 27, Paragraph 3 of the Japanese Patent Law Enforcement Regulations. As the “another line which belongs to the genus Limonium”, any of the existing Limonium varieties may be used. Specific examples include, but are not limited to, ‘Early Blue’, ‘Gold Coast’, ‘American Beauty’, ‘Marine Blue’ (from Dai-ichi Seed Co., Ltd.) and ‘Sunday Pink’ (from Miyoshi & Co., Ltd.). The characteristic of non-low-temperature requirement which SG4-15 line has is inherited recessively. Thus, this characteristic is not expressed in F1 generation, but one fourth of the F2 population is expected theoretically to have this characteristic.
Seeds of SG4-15 line have been deposited with the National Institute of Bioscience and Human Technology Agency of Industrial Science and Technology (1-3, Higashi 1-chome, Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki-ken 305, Japan, on Jun. 16, 2000) under the terms of the Budapest Treaty, and received an accession number
Hayama Shizuo
Hayama Takashi
Kondo Michiko
Matsuo Chieko
Nakagawa Masahiro
Hayama Shizuo
Hutzell Paula
Kimball Melissa L.
Kondo Michiko
Matsuo Chieko
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