Sulfonylurea-tolerant sunflower plants
This invention relates to sunflower lines and hybrids bred to contain a highly heritable trait conferring tolerance to sulfonylurea herbicides wherein said trait is conferred by an ALS gene encoding a sulfonylurea herbicide tolerant ALS enzyme and wherein the said sulfonylurea tolerant ALS enzyme is the sulfonylurea tolerant ALS enzyme encoded within the genome of certain designated sunflower lines.
1. A sunflower seed, produced from sunflower line M7 comprising a M7 ALS gene, its progeny or the progeny of succeeding generations, bred by either self or cross pollination, which comprises the M7 ALS gene encoding SEQ ID NO: 1 conferring tolerance to sulfonylurea herbicides contained within sunflower line M7, representative seed of said line M7 having been deposited under ATCC Deposit Nos. PTA-2295 and PTA-2296.
2. A sunflower plant, or a part thereof, containing the M7 ALS gene encoding SEQ ID NO: 1 conferring tolerance to sulfonylurea herbicides, grown from the seed of claim 1 .
3. The seed of claim 1 , further containing a trait conferring resistance to Orobanche parasitism.
4. Pollen of the plant of claim 2 , wherein the pollen contains the M7 ALS gene encoding SEQ ID NO: 1 conferring tolerance to sulfonylurea herbicides.
5. An ovule of the plant of claim 2 , wherein the ovule contains the M7 ALS gene encoding SEQ ID NO: 1 conferring tolerance to sulfonylurea herbicides.
6. A tissue culture of regenerable cells from the plant of claim 2 , wherein the cells contain the M7 ALS gene encoding SEQ ID NO: 1 conferring tolerance to sulfonylurea herbicides.
7. A method for producing inbred sunflower seed having tolerance to sulfonylurea herbicides comprising crossing a first parent sunflower plant with a second parent sunflower plant and harvesting the resultant inbred sunflower seed, wherein the first and second parent sunflower plants is the sunflower plant of claim 2 .
8. An inbred sunflower seed produced by the method of claim 7 .
9. An inbred sunflower plant, or a part thereof, produced by growing the inbred seed of claim 8 .
10. A seed produced from the inbred plant of claim 9 .
11. A method for producing hybrid sunflower seed containing the M7 ALS gene encoding SEQ ID NO: 1 conferring tolerance to sulfonylurea herbicides comprising crossing a first parent sunflower plant with a second parent sunflower plant and harvesting the resultant hybrid sunflower seed, wherein the first or second parent sunflower plant is the sunflower plant of claim 2 .
12. A hybrid sunflower seed produced by the method of claim 11 .
13. A hybrid sunflower plant, or a part thereof produced by growing the hybrid seed of claim 12 .
14. A seed produced from the hybrid plant of claim 13 .
15. A method for controlling undesired vegetation in a crop of sunflower plants of any one of claim 2 , 9 or 13 comprising applying to the locus of the vegetation an effective amount of a sulfonylurea herbicide.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the undesired vegetation comprises a parasitic weed.
17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the parasitic weed is an Orobanche species.
18. The method of claim 15 , wherein the sulfonylurea herbicide is tribenuron-methyl.
19. The method of claim 15 , wherein the sulfonylurea herbicide is metsulfuron-methyl.
20. The method of claim 15 , wherein the sulfonylurea herbicide is ethametsulfuron-methyl.
21. The method of claim 15 , wherein the sulfonylurea herbicide is applied post-emergence to the crop of sunflower plants.
22. A method for controlling volunteer sunflower plants of any one of claim 2 , 9 or 13 in a cereal crop comprising applying to the locus of the volunteer sunflower plants an effective amount of 2,4-D.
23. A method of controlling volunteer sunflower plants of any one of claim 2 , 9 or 13 in a sugar beet crop comprising applying to the locus of the volunteer sunflower plants an effective amount of a mixture of triflusulfuron-methyl and phenmedipham.