Plants – Commercial herbaceous vegetable or herb plant
Plant Patent
1999-10-22
2002-07-16
Campell, Bruce R. (Department: 1661)
Plants
Commercial herbaceous vegetable or herb plant
Plant Patent
active
PP012772
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of
Colocasia esculenta
(popularly known as taro) named ‘Pa'akala’. ‘Pa'akala’ plants were produced by cross-pollination of the commercial cultivars ‘Ngeruuch’ and ‘Maui Lehua’ selection of progeny for a single plant which exhibited desirable agronomic and disease resistance properties, and asexual reproduction of the selected plant using tissue culture and propagation of hulis. ‘Pa'akala’ differs distinctively from other taro plants by its unique combination of resistance to taro leaf blight (TLB) caused by
Phytophthora colocasiae
, high tolerance to root rot caused by Pythium spp., vigorous growth, extra-large mother corm size, and pinkish corm of very good flour quality and good poi and eating qualities.
REPRODUCTION
‘Pa'akala’ is a product of the taro-breeding program of the University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hi. The ‘Pa'akala’ cultivar was derived from a single plant which was selected from a cross between the Hawaiian taro cultivar ‘Maui Lehua’ (unpatented) and the Palauan taro cultivar ‘Ngeruuch’ (unpatented; also referred to as ‘P10’). Ancestry of both parents is unknown, except that ‘Maui Lehua’ belongs to the Group Lehua of Hawaiian-Polynesian taros and is susceptible to taro leaf blight (TLB), caused by
Phytophthora colocasiae
, and ‘Ngeruuch’ is a Micronesian taro from Palau and is highly resistant to this disease.
‘Maui Lehua,’ the preferred poi taro of Hawaii, was selected as the female parent; ‘Maui Lehua’ exhibits the desirable agronomic characteristics of absence of runners, less than 6 suckers per plant, and superior poi quality purple corm. ‘Ngeruuch’ was selected as the pollen parent for its high resistance to the taro leaf blight disease; ‘Ngeruuch’ exhibits undesirable vegetative proliferation by long stolons. Both parents are commercial cultivars. The initial cross-pollination of ‘Ngeruuch’ pollen and ‘Maui Lehua’ female flowers was made to produce a new poi taro having the agronomic characteristics of ‘Maui Lehua’ and the resistance to TLB of ‘Ngeruuch.’ F
1
progeny plants (including a single plant which was later designate ‘Pa'akala’) were selected for their disease resistance to TLB, pocket rot, and basal rot, having fewer than 6 suckers and no runners, poi quality, and taste of cooked corms.
Asexual reproduction of ‘Pa'akala’ was performed in Honolulu, Hi., by apical meristem multiplication using standard tissue culture procedures [Keolanui et al. (1993) Handbook for commercial-scale taro (
Colocasia esculenta
) tissue culture in Hawaii. University of Hawaii, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, Research Extension Series 145]. The traits of the plants which were generated by apical meristem multiplication were identical to those of the plant from which they were asexually reproduced. Cloned and rooted tissue culture plants of ‘Pa'akala’ were produced at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hi.
Rooted tissue culture plants were grown to hulis to produce plants for field-testing as follows. Rooted tissue culture plants were transplanted from rooting medium to Sunshine Mix 4 potting soil. Potting mix (10 cubic inches volume) was used per plant in Compak® 606 multi-pots 3.25″ deep with cell opening 2.25″×2″(T.O. Plastics Inc, 78th Street, MPLS, Minn. 55425). The Sunshine Mix 4 was mixed thoroughly with 2 lb of fast acting granular lime (The Chas H. Lilly Co, Portland, Oreg. 97283) and 0.5 lb of Osmocote slow release fertilizer 14-14-14 (Scotts-Sierra Horticultural Products Co., 14111 Scottslawn Rd., Marysville, Ohio 43042) per cubic yard prior to use. The cells were placed in T.O. Plastics trays without holes 20.25″×15.75″×2.5″ in size, containing a liquid nutrient solution made with one teaspoon of Peters (Scotts-Sierra) all-purpose soluble plant food 20-20-20/gallon of water. Plants were grown for 3-4 months in a greenhouse at 28° C. until the stem base of the plants was one inch in diameter and the plants were ready for field planting.
Plants were also propagated in Hakalau, Hi., by the farming practice known as huli production whereby the apical shoots are separated from the rhizomes by cutting the shoot at the top of the corm immediately above the newest leaf scar and planted. A large number of plants of the new variety have been reproduced by this method and the resulting plants have exhibited the distinguishing characteristics of the original plant which was used for asexual propagation, indicating that the new ‘Pa'akala’ cultivar is established.
REFERENCES:
patent: PP6000 (1987-09-01), Christensen
patent: PP6895 (1989-07-01), Meilland
patent: 4925696 (1990-05-01), Slimak
patent: 5034327 (1991-07-01), Takayama et al.
patent: PP8526 (1993-12-01), Wilfret
patent: 5464646 (1995-11-01), Huang et al.
patent: PP10466 (1998-06-01), Wilfret
de la Pena, R. S. “The University of Hawaii Taro Germplasm Nursery and Breeding Program” Proceddings of the Workshop on Taro and Tanier Modeling University of Hawaii Research Extension Series 136, pp. 7-9, Aug. 1992.*
Whitney, L. D. et al. “Taro Varietes in Hawaii” Hawaii Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin No. 84. pp. 1-86, Dec. 1939.
Baker Wendy
Campell Bruce R.
Medlen & Carroll LLP
University of Hawai'i
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