FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a new hybrid tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) variety designated 72-014 RZ.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Tomato plants of the speciesSolanum lycopersicumbelong to the nightshade family, also known as Solanaceae. Within this family it is nowadays grouped in the genusSolanum, which does not only harbor tomato, but also the important food crops potato and eggplant. It is a perennial, herbaceous, flowering plant species which is native to South America.

Other species that are related to tomato within theSolanumgenus areSolanum pimpinellifolium, Solanum chilense, Solanum peruvianumandSolanum habrochaites. Although it is known that crossing can be considerably difficult, these species are used to obtain traits that are valuable in growing tomato. In the recent history, advancement in tomato breeding has led to tomato varieties having, for example higher yield, higher disease resistance and increased shelf life.

Tomato plants are being cultivated worldwide for their highly nutritious fruits. The tomato fruit is consumed in various ways, including raw, as an ingredient in many dishes and sauces, and in drinks. While it is botanically a fruit, it is considered a vegetable for culinary purposes. The fruit is rich in lycopene, which may have beneficial health effects. In 2009, the total acreage for both fresh and processing tomatoes in the United States was approximately 442,100 acres, with a total production of about 14,141,920 tons (source: USDA).

Commercial vegetable production, including the production of tomato, is affected by many conditions. The choice of the grower for a certain variety is a determining factor, and forms the genetic basis for the result that can be attained. In addition, there are many external factors that influence the outcome. Growing conditions like climate, soil, and the use of inputs like fertilizer play a major role. There are various ways of cultivating tomatoes, among which, the most common are: open field, greenhouse and shade house production. Although the species can be grown under a wide range of climatic conditions, it performs most successfully under dry and warm conditions. In addition to this, the presence of pests and diseases also affects the total yield that can be reached.

In order to create tomato varieties that are satisfying the needs of growers and/or consumers, many considerations have to be taken into account. The goal is to combine within a single variety or hybrid an improved combination of desirable traits from the parental germplasms. These traits may include higher yield, field performance, fruit and agronomic quality such as firmness, color, content in soluble solids, acidity and viscosity, resistance to diseases and insects, and tolerance to drought and heat. With mechanical harvesting of the tomato fruits for processing purpose, i.e., juice, paste, catsup, etc., uniformity of plant characteristics such as germination, growth rate, maturity, and plant uniformity is also important.

Tomato is a simple diploid species with twelve pairs of chromosomes. The cultivated tomato is self-fertile and almost exclusively self-pollinating. The tomato flowers are hermaphrodites. Tomato cultivars were initially open-pollinated, such as many well-known heirloom tomatoes, but also varieties were developed for large scale growing facilities. Nowadays, especially in a professional growing setting these cultivars are replaced by better yielding hybrids. Due to its wide dissemination and high value, tomato has been intensively bred. This explains why such a wide array of tomatoes are now available. The size may range from small to large, and there are cherry, plum, pear, standard, and beefsteak types. Tomatoes may be grouped by the amount of time it takes for the plants to mature fruit for harvest; in general the cultivars are considered to be early, midseason or late-maturing. Tomatoes can also be grouped by the plant's growing habit, being determinate or indeterminate. Determinate plants tend to grow their foliage first, then set flowers that mature into fruit if pollination is successful. All of the fruit tend to ripen on a plant at about the same time. Indeterminate tomatoes start out by growing some foliage, then continue to produce foliage and flowers throughout the growing season. These plants will tend to have tomato fruit in different stages of maturity at any given time. More recent developments in tomato breeding have led to a wider array of fruit color. In addition to the standard red ripe color, tomatoes can be creamy white, lime green, pink, yellow, golden, or orange.

Also breeding for multiple disease and pest resistances is an important aspect in providing varieties for multiple growing systems and climates. These diseases can be the result of attacks of either nematodes, bacteria, fungi, viruses and/or insects. Important micro-organisms causing such diseases in tomato plants and their fruits in this respect include:Meloidogyne incognita(Mi);Verticillium dahliaerace 0 (Vd);Fusarium oxysporumf sp.lycopersicirace 0 (ex1) and race 1 (ex2) (Fol);Fusarium oxysporumf. sp.radicis lycopersici(For);Cladosporium fulvumgroups A, B, C, D and E (Ff); Tomato Mosaic Virus (ToMV) strain 0, 1, 2, and 1-2;Stemphyliumspp.; Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (TSWV); andOidium neolycopersici(On).

The way in which fruits from tomato plants are harvested is also relevant. When the fruits are not ripe at the same time, single harvest of fruits has to be applied in order to provide a fresh product to the consumer. In the case that fruits of one truss are ripening synchronous, the whole truss can be harvested and be marketed. To support this development, the interest for breeding of uniform ripening trusses has increased in the recent years.

Oidium neolycopersiciis the causal agent of powdery mildew disease in tomato. The lack of a sexual stage hampers the exact identification of this pathogen, but it is believed to belong to theAscomycetes. The fungus causes powdery white lesions on the adaxial tomato leaf surface and might also infect other abaxial surfaces, the petioles and the calyx. The tomato fruit generally remains uninfected. Severe infection of a tomato plant might result in premature senescence, leaf chlorosis and a marked reduction of the tomato fruit size. (Jones et al. Mol. Plant Pathol. 2(6), 303-309, 2001)

Silvering in tomato, also known as ‘chimera’ is a disorder that is not related to a disease caused by bacteria, viruses, insects or a combination thereof. It is called ‘head silvering’ when it affects the leaves that are formed in the shoot apical meristem of tomato plants. This disorder primarily affects tomato that is grown in protected conditions, especially in northern latitude areas of production. The white or silver color in the tissues of the leaves is caused by large intracellular spaces which develop through an abnormal formation of palisade tissue of the leaf. This happens at a very early stage of development. The main factor to positively and negatively influence this phenomenon is a drastic decrease of temperature, especially at the level of the shoot apical meristem. Silvering thus affects general plant condition but might also result in deformed fruits, optionally showing greenish to yellow streaks (Blancard et al. in Tomato Diseases: Identification, Biology and Control, Manson Publishing, 2012).

Citation or identification of any document in this application is not an admission that such document is available as prior art to the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a new tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) variety, designated 72-014 RZ.

The present invention provides seeds of tomato cultivar 72-014 RZ, which have been deposited with the National Collections of Industrial, Marine and Food Bacteria (NCIMB) in Bucksburn, Aberdeen AB21 9YA, Scotland, UK and have been assigned NCIMB Accession No. 43550.

In one embodiment, the invention provides a tomato plant designated 72-014 RZ, representative seed of which have been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. 43550.

In one embodiment, the invention provides a tomato plant designated 72-014 RZ, as well as seed from such a plant, plant parts of such a plant (such as those mentioned herein) and plants from such seed and/or progeny of such a plant, advantageously progeny exhibiting the same morphological and physiological characteristics as such a plant, each of which is within the scope of the invention.

In one embodiment the invention relates to a tomato plant that has genetic material for exhibiting all of the morphological and physiological characteristics of a plant of the invention. The genetic information for exhibiting all of the morphological and physiological characteristics is as contained in a plant, representative seed of which having been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. 43550.

In an embodiment of the present invention, there also is provided a part of a tomato plant of the invention, including a part of hybrid tomato variety 72-014 RZ, wherein the plant part is involved in sexual reproduction, which includes, without limitation, a microspore, pollen, an ovary, an ovule, an embryo sac or an egg cell and/or wherein the plant part is suitable for vegetative reproduction, which includes, without limitation, a cutting, a root, a stem, a cell, or a protoplast and/or wherein the plant part is a tissue culture of regenerable cells in which the cells or protoplasts of the tissue culture are derived from a tissue such as, for example and without limitation, a leaf, pollen, an embryo, a cotyledon, a hypocotyl, a meristematic cell, a root, a root tip, an anther, a flower, a seed or a stem. The plant of the invention from which such a part may come includes those wherein representative seed has been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. 43550.

In another embodiment there is a plant grown from a seed, representative seed of which having been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. 43550. In a further embodiment there is a plant regenerated from an above-described plant part, or regenerated from the above-described tissue culture. Advantageously such a plant may have morphological and/or physiological characteristics of hybrid tomato variety 72-014 RZ and/or of a plant grown from seed, representative seed of which having been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. 43550—including without limitation such plants having all of the morphological and physiological characteristics of hybrid tomato variety 72-014 RZ and/or of a plant grown from seed, representative seed of which having been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. 43550. Accordingly, in still a further embodiment, there is provided a tomato plant having all of the morphological and physiological characteristics of hybrid tomato variety 72-014 RZ, representative seed of which having been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. 43550. Such a plant may be grown from a seed, regenerated from an above-described plant part, or regenerated from the above-described tissue culture. A tomato plant having all of the resistances and the characteristics recited and tabulated herein is preferred. Parts of such a plant—such as those plant parts above-mentioned—are encompassed by the invention.

In one embodiment, there is provided progeny of tomato cultivar 72-014 RZ produced by sexual or vegetative reproduction, grown from a seed, regenerated from an above-described plant part, or regenerated from the above-described tissue culture of the tomato cultivar or a progeny plant thereof, representative seed of which having been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. 43550.

Progeny of the hybrid tomato variety 72-014 RZ may be modified in one or more other characteristics, in which the modification is a result of, for example and without limitation, mutagenesis or transformation with a transgene.

In still another embodiment, the present invention provides progeny of tomato cultivar 72-014 RZ produced by sexual or vegetative reproduction, grown from a seed, regenerated from an above-described plant part, or regenerated from the above-described tissue culture of the tomato cultivar or a progeny plant thereof.

In one embodiment the invention relates to progeny of a tomato plant, wherein the progeny has genetic material which is as contained in a plant, representative seed of which having been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. 43550.

In another embodiment the invention relates to a method of producing an inbred tomato plant derived from a plant of the invention of which representative seed has been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. 43550, which may comprise of the steps: a) preparing a progeny plant derived from hybrid tomato variety 72-014 RZ by crossing a tomato plant designated 72-014, representative seed of which have been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. 43550 with itself or a second tomato plant; b) crossing the progeny plant with itself or a second tomato plant to produce a seed of a progeny plant of a subsequent generation; c) growing a progeny plant of a subsequent generation from said seed and crossing the progeny plant of a subsequent generation with itself or a second tomato plant; and d) repeating step b) or c) for at least 3 more generations to produce an inbred tomato plant derived from the hybrid tomato variety 72-014 RZ. The invention further encompasses an inbred plant produced by such method.

The invention even further relates to a method of producing tomato fruits which may comprise: (a) cultivating the hybrid tomato variety 72-014 RZ, representative seed of which having been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. 43550, to produce fruits and; (b) harvesting tomato fruits from the plant. The invention further comprehends the fruit itself, optionally as part of a food product, optionally in processed or packed form.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to not encompass within the invention any previously known product, process of making the product, or method of using the product such that Applicants reserve the right and hereby disclose a disclaimer of any previously known product, process, or method. It is further noted that the invention does not intend to encompass within the scope of the invention any product, process, or making of the product or method of using the product, which does not meet the written description and enablement requirements of the USPTO (35 U. S.C. § 112, first paragraph) or the EPO (Article 83 of the EPC), such that Applicants reserve the right and hereby disclose a disclaimer of any previously described product, process of making the product, or method of using the product.

It is noted that in this disclosure and particularly in the claims, terms such as “comprises”, “comprised”, and “comprising” and the like (e.g., “includes”, “included”, “including”, “contains”, “contained”, “containing”, “has”, “had”, “having”, etc.) can have the meaning ascribed to them in US Patent law, i.e., they are open ended terms. For example, any method that “comprises,” “has” or “includes” one or more steps is not limited to possessing only those one or more steps and also covers other unlisted steps. Similarly, any plant that “comprises,” “has” or “includes” one or more traits is not limited to possessing only those one or more traits and covers other unlisted traits. Similarly, the terms “consists essentially of” and “consisting essentially of” have the meaning ascribed to them in US Patent law, e.g., they allow for elements not explicitly recited, but exclude elements that are found in the prior art or that affect a basic or novel characteristic of the invention. See also MPEP § 2111.03. In addition, the term “about” is used to indicate that a value includes the standard deviation of error for the device or method being employed to determine the value.

These and other embodiments are disclosed or are obvious from and encompassed by the following Detailed Description.

Deposit

The Deposit with NCIMB Ltd, Ferguson Building, Craibstone Estate, Bucksburn, Aberdeen AB21 9YA, UK, on Jan. 15, 2020, under deposit accession number 43550 was made and accepted pursuant to the terms of the Budapest Treaty. Upon issuance of a patent, all restrictions upon the deposit will be removed, and the deposit is intended to meet the requirements of 37 CFR §§ 1.801-1.809. The deposit will be irrevocably and without restriction or condition released to the public upon the issuance of a patent and for the enforceable life of the patent. The deposit will be maintained in the depository for a period of 30 years, or 5 years after the last request, or for the effective life of the patent, whichever is longer, and will be replaced if necessary during that period.

