POLYPLOID CASTOR PLANTS, COMPOSITIONS DERIVED THEREFROM AND USES OF SAME
A polyploid castor plant being at least as fertile as a diploid castor plant isogenic to the polyploid castor plant when grown under similar conditions.
1 . A polyploid castor plant being at least as fertile as a diploid castor plant isogenic to said polyploid castor plant when grown under similar conditions.
2 . The plant of claim 1 , wherein said fertility is determined by at least one of:
number of seeds per plant;
gamete fertility assay; and
acetocarmine pollen staining.
3 . The plant of claim 1 , exhibiting genomic stability for at least 5 passages.
4 . The plant of claim 1 , having seed yield at least as similar to that of said diploid castor plant.
5 . The plant of claim 1 , having oil yield at least as similar to that of said diploid castor plant.
6 . The plant of claim 1 , having a larger surface area of a leaf than that of said diploid castor plant.
7 . The plant of claim 1 , having a larger stomata surface than that of said diploid castor plant.
8 . The plant of claim 1 , being a tetraploid.
9 . The plant of claim 1 , capable of cross-breeding with a diploid plant.
10 . The plant of claim 1 , being an autopolyploid.
11 . The plant of claim 1 being an inbred.
12 . A castor plant as deposited under the Budapest treaty in NCIMB Ltd. and having Accession No. NCIMB 41593 Ricinus communis B2-20-4N.
13 . A plant part of the castor plant of claim 1 .
14 . Castor oil produced from the plant of claim 1 .
15 . Castor meal produced from the plant of claim 1 .
16 . The plant part of claim 13 being a seed.
17 . An isolated regenerable cell of the castor plant of claim 1 .
18 . The cell of claim 16 , exhibiting genomic stability for at least 5 passages in culture.
19 . The cell of claim 17 being from a meristem, pollen, a leaf, a root, a root tip, an anther, a pistil, a flower, a seed or a stem.
20 . A tissue culture comprising the regenerable cell of claim 17 .
21 . A method of producing castor seeds, comprising self-breeding or cross-breeding the plant of claim 1 .
22 . A method of producing castor oil, the method comprising:
(a) harvesting seeds of the castor plant of claim 1 ; and
(b) processing said seeds so as to produce the castor oil.
23 . A method of generating a polyploid castor seed, the method comprising:
(a) applying a magnetic field to castor seeds; and
(b) contacting said castor seeds with a G2/M cell cycle inhibitor thereby generating the polyploid castor seed.
24 . The method of claim 23 , wherein said G2/M cell cycle inhibitor comprises a microtubule polymerization inhibitor.
25 . The method of claim 24 , wherein said microtubule polymerization inhibitor is selected from the group consisting of colchicine, nocodazole, oryzaline, trifluraline and vinblastine sulphate.