LOW LIGNIN NON-TRANSGENIC ALFALFA VARIETIES AND METHODS FOR PRODUCING THE SAME

• US 20170208761A1
• Filed: 04/10/2017
• Published: 07/27/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DLF USA Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Alforex Seeds, LLC (Corteva, Inc.)
• Inventors: Reich, Jonathan M., Johnson, David W., Darling, Mark E., Engh, Tracy A.
• Granted Patent: US 9,949,452 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: A01H 5/10 Seeds
• CPC Class Codes: A01H 6/54 Leguminosae or Fabaceae, e.g. soybean, alfalfa or peanut
• CPC Class Codes: A01H 6/544 Medicago sativa [alfalfa]

Abstract

Disclosed are alfalfa varieties with low or reduced lignin content, including an alfalfa seed designated CW 096043 deposited as ATCC Accession Number PTA-122473, an alfalfa seed designated CW 103009 deposited as ATCC Accession Number PTA-122475, an alfalfa seed designated CW 099079 deposited as ATCC Accession Number PTA-122474, an alfalfa seed designated CW 090075 deposited as ATCC Accession Number PTA-122471, an alfalfa seed designated CW 054004 deposited as ATCC Accession Number PTA-122470, an alfalfa seed designated CW 093009 deposited as ATCC Accession Number PTA-122472, and an alfalfa seed designated CW 104015 deposited as ATCC Accession Number PTA-122476. Also disclosed are plants, or parts thereof, grown from the seed of the cultivar, plants having the morphological and physiological characteristics of these alfalfa varieties, such as CW 096043, CW 103009, CW 099079, CW 090075, CW 054004, CW 093009, or CW 104015 and methods of using the plant or parts thereof in alfalfa breeding and alfalfa transformation.

Claims

1. An alfalfa variety that has at least about 5.0% less lignin content as a percent of dry matter, compared to a control alfalfa variety grown under the same field growing conditions.

2. The alfalfa variety of claim 1, wherein the alfalfa variety has at least about 5.0% to at least about 25.0% less total lignin content and/or has about 5.0% to about 25% less acid detergent lignin content.

3. The alfalfa variety of claim 1, wherein the alfalfa variety has at least about 5.0% to about 25.0% more total digestible nutrient, about 5.0% to about 25.0% more relative forage quality, about 5.0% to about 25.0% more relative forage value, or about 5.0% to about 25.0% more milk per ton of dry mass compared to a control alfalfa variety grown under the same field growing conditions.

4. A seed of the alfalfa variety of claim 1 or regenerable parts of said seed.

5. A plant, or a part thereof, produced by growing the seed of claim 4.

6. A pollen from the plant of claim 5.

7. An ovule from the plant of claim 5.

8. An alfalfa plant having all the physiological and morphological characteristics of the plant of claim 5.

9. A tissue culture of regenerable cells from the plant, or the part thereof, of claim 5.

10. The tissue culture of claim 9, wherein said regenerable cells are selected from the group consisting of protoplasts and calli, and wherein the regenerable cells are from a leaf, pollen, ovule, cotyledon, hypocotyl, embryo, root, pod, flower, shoot or stalk.

11. A protoplast produced from the tissue culture of claim 9.

12. The tissue culture of claim 9, wherein the culture is a callus culture.

13. A method for producing an alfalfa-derived alfalfa plant of the alfalfa variety of claim 1, the method comprising:

(a) crossing a plant grown from the seed of the alfalfa variety of claim 1 with a second alfalfa plant to yield progeny alfalfa seed; and

(b) growing the progeny seed to yield an alfalfa-derived alfalfa plant of the alfalfa variety of claim 1.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

(c) crossing the alfalfa-derived alfalfa plant of the alfalfa variety of claim 1 of (b) with itself or a third alfalfa plant to yield a second alfalfa-derived alfalfa progeny seed; and

(d) growing the second alfalfa-derived alfalfa progeny seed of (c) to yield a second alfalfa-derived alfalfa plant of the alfalfa variety of claim 1.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein (c) and (d) are repeated at least one time to generate an additional alfalfa-derived alfalfa plant of the alfalfa variety of claim 1.