Inbred cantaloupe line I446

1. A seed of cantaloupe inbred line I446, wherein a representative sample of seed of said line was deposited under NCIMB No. 41427.

2. A cantaloupe plant, or a part thereof, produced by growing the seed of claim 1 .

3. A cantaloupe plant, or a part thereof, having all of the physiological and morphological characteristics of inbred line I446.

4. A tissue culture of cells produced from the plant of claim 2 , wherein the cells are produced from a plant part selected from the group consisting of protoplasts, embryos, meristematic cells, callus, pollen, ovules, flowers, seeds, leaves, roots, root tips, anthers, stems, petioles, fruits, cotyledons and hypocotyls.

5. A cantaloupe plant regenerated from the tissue culture of claim 4 , wherein the regenerated plant has all of the morphological and physiological characteristics of inbred line I446.

6. A method for producing a hybrid cantaloupe seed wherein the method comprises crossing the plant of claim 2 with a different cantaloupe plant and harvesting the resultant hybrid cantaloupe seed.

7. A method for producing a cantaloupe plant that contains in its genetic material one or more transgenes, wherein the method comprises crossing the cantaloupe plant of claim 2 with either a second plant of another cantaloupe cultivar which contains a transgene or a transformed cantaloupe plant of the cantaloupe inbred line I446, so that the genetic material of the progeny that result from the cross contains the transgene(s) operably linked to a regulatory element.

8. A method of introducing a desired trait into cantaloupe inbred line I446 wherein the method comprises:

(a) crossing the inbred line I446 plants grown from the inbred line I446 seed, wherein a representative sample of seed of said line was deposited under NCIMB No. 41427, with plants of another cantaloupe line that comprise a desired trait to produce F1 progeny plants, wherein the desired trait is selected from the group consisting of male sterility, male fertility, herbicide resistance, insect resistance, disease resistance, increased sugar content, increased sweetness, increased flavor, improved ripening control and improved salt tolerance;

(b) selecting one or more progeny plants that have the desired trait to produce selected progeny plants;

(c) crossing the selected progeny plants with the inbred line I446 plants to produce backcross progeny plants;

(d) selecting for backcross progeny plants that have the desired trait and physiological and morphological characteristics of cantaloupe inbred line I446 listed in Table 1 to produce selected backcross progeny plants; and

(e) repeating steps (c) and (d) three or more times in succession to produce selected fourth or higher backcross progeny plants that comprise the desired trait and all of the physiological and morphological characteristics of cantaloupe inbred line I446 as listed in the VARIETY DESCRIPTION INFORMATION.

9. A cantaloupe plant produced by the method of claim 8 , wherein the plant has the desired trait and all of the physiological and morphological characteristics of cantaloupe inbred line I446 listed in the VARIETY DESCRIPTION INFORMATION.

10. A hybrid cantaloupe seed designated I446* I444 having inbred line I446 as a parental line, wherein a representative sample of seed was deposited under NCIMB No. 41434, and hybrid cantaloupe seed designated I446*I407 having inbred line I446 as a parental line, wherein a representative sample of seed was deposited under NCIMB No. 41435.

11. A cantaloupe plant produced by growing the cantaloupe seed of claim 10 .

12. A method for producing inbred line I446, wherein a representative sample of seed of said line was deposited under NCIMB No. 41427, wherein the method comprises:

a) planting a collection of seed comprising seed of a hybrid, one of whose parents is inbred line I446, said collection also comprising seed of said inbred;

b) growing plants from said collection of seed;

c) identifying the plants having the physiological and morphological characteristics of cantaloupe inbred line I446 as inbred parent plants;

d) controlling pollination of said inbred parent plants in a manner which preserves the homozygosity of said inbred parent plant; and

e) harvesting the resultant seed.

13. A method for producing inbred line I446 seed, wherein a representative sample of seed of said line was deposited under NCIMB No. 41427, wherein the method comprises crossing a first inbred parent cantaloupe plant with a second inbred parent cantaloupe plant and harvesting the resultant cantaloupe seed, wherein both said first and second inbred cantaloupe plant are the cantaloupe plant of claim 3 .

14. A method for producing inbred line I446 seed, wherein a representative sample of seed of said line was deposited under NCIMB No. 41427, wherein the method comprises:

a) planting an inbred cantaloupe seed of claim 1 ;

b) growing a plant from said seed;

c) controlling pollination in a manner that the pollen produced by the grown plant pollinates the ovules produced by the grown plant; and

d) harvesting the resultant seed.

15. A method for producing a cantaloupe plant comprising transforming the cantaloupe plant of claim 2 with a transgene conferring a trait selected from the group consisting of herbicide resistance, insect resistance, disease resistance, increased sweetness, improved ripening control and improved salt tolerance.

16. A cantaloupe plant produced by the method of claim 15 having one or more traits selected from the group consisting of herbicide resistance, insect resistance and disease resistance.

17. A cantaloupe plant produced by the method of claim 15 having one or more traits selected from the group consisting of increased sweetness, improved ripening control and improved salt tolerance.

18. A method for producing a male sterile cantaloupe plant comprising transforming the cantaloupe plant of claim 2 with a nucleic acid molecule.

19. A male sterile cantaloupe plant produced by the method of claim 18 .