The present invention provides novel melon plants and plant parts, seed, fruit, and tissue culture therefrom. The invention also provides methods for producing a melon plant by crossing the melon plants of the invention with themselves or another melon plant. The invention also provides plants produced from such a crossing as well as plant parts, seed, fruit, and tissue culture therefrom.
1. A seed of a cantaloupe selected from cantaloupe cultivar ME011, ME012 or ME014, a sample of seed having been deposited under ATCC Accession Nos. PTA-13631, PTA-13632 and PTA-13578, respectively.
2. A plant of cantaloupe cultivar ME011, ME012 or ME014, a sample of seed of said cantaloupe plant having been deposited under ATCC Accession Nos. PTA-13631, PTA-13632 and PTA-13578, respectively.
3. A cantaloupe plant, or a part thereof, having all the physiological and morphological characteristics of the cantaloupe plant of claim 2 .
4. Pollen of the plant of claim 2 .
5. An ovule of the plant of claim 2 .
6. A tissue culture of regenerable cells of the plant of claim 2 .
7. The tissue culture of claim 6 , wherein the cells are:
(a) embryos, meristem, leaves, pollen, cotyledons, hypocotyls, roots, root tips, anthers, flowers, pistils, ovules, seed, shoots, stems, stalks, petioles, pith and/or capsules; or
(b) callus or protoplasts derived from the cells of (a).
8. A cantaloupe plant regenerated from the tissue culture of claim 6 .
9. A part of the cantaloupe plant of claim 2 .
10. Fruit from the plant of claim 2 .
11. Flesh of the fruit of claim 10 .
12. A processed product from the fruit of claim 10 .
13. A method of producing cantaloupe seed, the method comprising crossing the plant of claim 2 with itself or a second melon plant.
14. A seed produced by the method of claim 13 .
15. A plant produced by growing the seed of claim 14 .
16. A method for producing a seed of a melon plant derived from the plant of claim 2 , the method comprising:
(a) crossing a melon plant of cantaloupe cultivar ME011, ME012 or ME014 with a second melon plant, a sample of seed of said cantaloupe plant having been deposited under ATCC Accession Nos. PTA-13631, PTA-13632 and PTA-13578, respectively; and
(b) allowing seed of a melon plant derived from cantaloupe cultivar ME011, ME012 or ME014 to form.
17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
(c) selfing the plant grown from the melon seed derived from cantaloupe cultivar ME011, ME012 or ME014 or crossing it to a second melon plant to yield additional melon seed derived from cantaloupe ME011, ME012 or ME014;
(d) growing plants from the additional melon seed derived from cantaloupe cultivar ME011, ME012 or ME014 of step (c) to yield additional melon plants derived from cantaloupe ME011, ME012 or ME014; and
(e) repeating (c) and (d) to generate further derived melon plants.
18. A seed produced by the method of claim 16 .
19. A plant produced by growing the seed of claim 18 .
20. A method of producing cantaloupe fruit, the method comprising:
(a) obtaining the plant of claim 2 , wherein the plant has been cultivated to maturity; and
(b) collecting fruit from the plant.
21. A method of vegetatively propagating the plant of claim 2 , the method comprising:
(a) collecting tissue capable of being propagated from a plant of cantaloupe cultivar ME011, ME012 or ME014, a sample of seed of said cantaloupe plant having been deposited under ATCC Accession Nos. PTA-13631, PTA-13632 and PTA-13578, respectively;
(b) cultivating the tissue to obtain proliferated shoots; and
(c) rooting the proliferated shoots to obtain rooted plantlets.
22. The method of claim 21 , further comprising growing plants from the rooted plantlets.
23. Plantlets obtained by the method of claim 21 .
24. A method of producing a plant derived from the plant of claim 2 and comprising a desired added trait, the method comprising:
(a) crossing a first plant of cantaloupe cultivar ME011, ME012 or ME014, a sample of seed of said cantaloupe plant having been deposited under ATCC Accession Nos. PTA-13631, PTA-13632 and PTA-13578, respectively, with a second melon plant that comprises a desired added trait to produce F1 progeny;
(b) selecting an F1 progeny that comprises the desired added trait;
(c) crossing the selected F1 progeny with the first plant of cantaloupe cultivar ME011, ME012 or ME014 to produce backcross progeny;
(d) selecting backcross progeny comprising the desired added trait and the physiological and morphological characteristic of the first plant of cantaloupe cultivar ME011, ME012 or ME014; and
(e) repeating steps (c) and (d) one or more times in succession to produce a plant derived from cantaloupe cultivar ME011, ME012 or ME014 comprising a desired added trait.
25. The method of claim 24 , wherein the desired added trait is male sterility, pest resistance, insect resistance, disease resistance, herbicide resistance, or any combination thereof.
26. A melon plant produced by the method of claim 24 , wherein the melon plant has the desired added trait.
27. Seed of the plant of claim 26 .
28. A method of producing a plant of cantaloupe cultivar ME011, ME012 or ME014 comprising a desired added desired trait, the method comprising introducing a transgene conferring the desired trait into the plant of claim 2 .
29. A melon plant produced by the method of claim 28 , wherein the melon plant has the desired added trait.
30. Seed of the plant of claim 29 .