Personal celery

Abstract

The present invention relates to a celery plant ( Apium graveolens L. dulce) carrying a genetic trait that leads to a shorter petiole and a shorter total plant length at mature harvest stage as compared to a celery plant not carrying the said genetic trait, wherein said genetic trait is as present in the genome of plants grown from seed of which a representative sample was deposited with the NCIMB under accession number NCIMB 41902.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A celery plant ( Apium graveolens  L. dulce) comprising a genetic trait that leads to a shorter petiole and a shorter total plant length at mature harvest stage as compared to a celery plant not carrying the said genetic trait, wherein said genetic trait is as present in the genome of plants grown from seed of which a representative sample was deposited with the NCIMB under accession number NCIMB 41902. 
     
     
         2 . The celery plant as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the trait is introgressed from a plant grown from seed of which a representative sample was deposited with the NCIMB under accession number NCIMB 41902. 
     
     
         3 . The celery plant as claimed in  claim 1 , obtainable by:
 growing plants from seed that was deposited with the NCIMB under accession number NCIMB 41902;   crossing the said plant with a plant not showing the trait to obtain an F1 population;   selfing plants from the F1 to obtain an F2 population;   selecting plants that have a shorter petiole and a shorter total plant length at mature harvest stage as being plants of the invention; and   optionally repeating steps b) to d)   
     
     
         4 . The celery plants as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the shorter petioles are in increasing order of preference at least 20% shorter, at least 25% shorter, at least 30% shorter, at least 35% shorter, at least 40% shorter, at least 45% shorter, at least 50% shorter, at least 55% shorter, at least 60% shorter, at least 65% shorter, at least 70% shorter, at least 75% shorter, at least 80% shorter at mature harvest stage, when compared to a celery plant not carrying the genetic determinant of the invention. 
     
     
         5 . The celery plants as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein at mature harvest stage the shorter petioles are shorter than 19 cm, preferably shorter than 17 cm, more preferably shorter than 15 cm, even more preferably shorter than 13 cm, even more preferably shorter than 11 cm, most preferably shorter than 9 cm. 
     
     
         6 . The celery plants as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein at mature harvest stage the plants are shorter than 37 cm, preferably shorter than 36 cm or shorter than 35 cm, more preferably shorter than 34 cm or shorter than 33 cm, even more preferably shorter than 32 cm, most preferably shorter than 31 cm. 
     
     
         7 . The celery plant as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the celery plant is a hybrid, doubled haploid, or inbred. 
     
     
         8 . A seed of a celery plant as claimed in  claim 1 . 
     
     
         9 . Propagation material suitable for producing a plant as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the propagation material is suitable for sexual reproduction, and is in particular selected from microspores, pollen, ovaries, ovules, embryo sacs and egg cells, or is suitable for vegetative reproduction, and is in particular selected from cuttings, roots, stems, cells, protoplasts, or is suitable for tissue cultures of regenerable cells, and is in particular selected from leaves, pollen, embryos, cotyledon, hypocotyls, meristematic cells, roots, root tips, anthers, flowers, seeds and stems, wherein a plant produced from the propagation material has short petioles and a short total leaf length than a celery plant of the same age not carrying the said genetic determinant. 
     
     
         10 . A celery plant produced from the propagation material as claimed in  claim 9 , which plant has short petioles and a short total leaf length as compared to a celery plant not carrying the said genetic determinant. 
     
     
         11 . A progeny of a plant as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the progeny plant has short petioles and a short total leaf length as compared to a celery plant not carrying the said genetic determinant. 
     
     
         12 . A food product, comprising the stalks of a celery plant as claimed in  claim 1 , or parts thereof.