Cherry tree rootstock named ‘Clinton’

A new cherry tree variety suitable for use as rootstock.

Botanical designation: The present invention relates to a new (Prunus cerasusL. xPrunus canescensBois) open-pollinated cherry tree variety.

Variety denomination: The new plant has the varietal denomination ‘Clinton’.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a new and distinct variety cherry tree. In the field of plant genetics, researchers conduct an extensive and continuing plant-breeding program including the organization and asexual reproduction of orchard trees, and of which plums, peaches, nectarines, apricots, cherries, almonds and interspecifics are exemplary. It was against this background of activities that the present variety of cherry tree was originated and asexually reproduced in our experimental orchard.

PRIOR VARIETIES

ORIGIN OF THE VARIETY

Open-pollinated ‘GiSelA® 5’ (GI 148/2), seeds were planted in Clarksville, Mich. Seedlings were selected as candidate rootstocks, based on overall plant health, virus tolerance (Bromoviridae Ilarvirus species Prune Dwarf Virus and Bromoviridae Ilarvirus speciesPrunusNecrotic Ringspot Virus), and rooting capabilities. Candidate rootstocks produced by asexual propagation were grafted with ‘Hedelfingen’ scion and planted in Clarksville, Mich. Further rootstock selection occurred on the basis of scion qualities to include precocity (early flowering and fruiting beginning the second year after planting) and reduced tree stature measured as trunk cross-sectional area. ‘Clinton’ was asexually reproduced through conventional softwood cutting methods, and grafted and planted with ‘Bing’ scion. The ‘Bing’ trees grafted on the ‘Clinton’ rootstock were planted in Prosser, Wash. and evaluated for trunk cross-sectional area, tree height, growth habit, flowers per node, crop yield, cropping efficiency, and fruit weight, among other traits. Cherry tree ‘Clinton’ was selected from this trial.

ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION OF VARIETY

Asexual reproduction of the ‘Clinton’ cherry rootstock has been achieved using the mother plant to obtain rooted liners using conventional softwood cutting procedures, and through meristem culture with commercial nurseries. Initially, liners were propagated from softwood cuttings in commercial greenhouses. A subset of these liners was used to establish a mother block in Clarksville, Mich. The remaining liners were sent to a nursery to make test trees of ‘Clinton’ that were budded with the scion ‘Hedefingen’. The resulting trees were planted in a trial in Clarksville, Mich. A second set of liners was propagated from softwood cuttings in commercial greenhouses. These ‘Clinton’ liners were budded with ‘Bing’ scion to make trees for a trial in Prosser, Wash. A nursery established meristem cultures of ‘Clinton’, and using the plantlets produced they increased the liner number of ‘Clinton’. These liners were used to make trees with ‘Montmorency’ scion for a trial in Traverse City, Mich. The living tissues (i.e. leaves, stems, buds, flowers and fruits) of the original mother block plants were observed to be identical to secondary and tertiary vegetatively propagated plants.

STATEMENT OF STABILITY

Asexual propagation as described has demonstrated that the combination of traits that characterize this tree are fixed and remain true to type through at least two successive propagation cycles.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

‘Clinton’ is particularly useful as a rootstock. The variety results in dwarf trees with a significantly smaller canopy size than traditional non-dwarfing rootstocks. When this variety is used as a rootstock for sweet cherry, the fruit can be harvested without using ladders.

When used as a rootstock for sour cherry the fruit can be harvested by an over the row harvester that can move continuously down the row instead of being harvested by a trunk shaking machine that harvests each tree individually. The variety of the invention also has favorable precocity, which results in a scion variety having flower buds and fruit beginning in years two and three rather than years five or six when traditional rootstocks are used.

‘Clinton’ was selected as a cherry rootstock on the basis of its scion trunk cross-sectional area (TCSA), tree height, growth habit, flowers per node, crop yield, cropping efficiency, and fruit weight, among other traits, in two experimental field trials. Scion trees grafted onto this rootstock showed significant reduction in TCSA compared to ‘GiSelA® 6’ (GI 148/1) and a TCSA similar to ‘GiSelA® 5’ (GI 148/2). ‘Clinton’ is suitable for standard nursery propagation practices for uniform liner production. ‘Clinton’ can be distinguished from its parents by the use of Simple Sequence Repeat DNA markers. With primer pair PceGA59, ‘Clinton’ is distinguished from its parent, ‘GiSelA® 5’ (GI 148/2), by the presence of the 189-base pair (bp) allele, with the primer pair PruG4RS, ‘Clinton’ is distinguished from its parent, ‘GiSelA® 5’ (GI 148/2), by the presence of the 172 and 196 bp alleles.

COMPARISON WITH PARENTS

The new cherry variety may be distinguished from its seed parent, ‘GiSelA® 5’ (GI 148/2) in anthocyanin color of the Apex, the leaf blade angle at apex, using the PceGA59 primer pair—the presence of the 189 bp allele; and using the PruG4RS primer pair the presence of the 172 and 196 bp alleles. The pollen parent is unknown.

DESCRIPTION OF THE NEW VARIETY

The following is a detailed botanical description of the new variety of cherry tree, its flowers, foliage and fruit, as based on observations of various aged specimens grown at Clarksville, Mich. with color in accordance with The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart (R.H.S.), 2001 edition.Measurement details:Flowers:Inflorescence height.—Measured from where the flower cluster attaches to the branch to the most distal floral part.Flower diameter.—Measured across the petals in mm.Flower length.—Measured from the bottom of the pedicel to the most distal flower point (mm).Pedicel.—The stem of an individual flower. It is measured from the attachment in the bud to the start of the perianth.Peduncle.—A stalk supporting an inflorescence. In these selections, the cherry flowers within a flower bud all start at the same base and they the stalk separates into individual pedicels supporting each flower.Anther color.—Before the anther's dehisce, when they are still bright yellow and plump.Anther length.—Measured for the longest anther measured from the top of the perianth tube.Style.—Measured above the swelled ovary.Tree.—Height: Approx. 8 ft. Diameter: Approx. 10 ft. Vigor: Weak. Branching habit: Spreading. Branching: Strong. Hardiness: Cold Tolerant. Plant — flowers: present. Scion compatibility confirmed: Hedelfingen, Bing, Montmorency.Stem(trunk).—Strength: medium. Texture: rough. Color: grey brown (RHS 200A). A comparison of the stems of ‘Clinton’ and ‘GiSelA® 6’ (GI 148/1) is provided in Table 1 below:

The use of clonally propagatedPrunussp. rootstocks in cherry production is increasing as these rootstocks provide reduced tree size and precocity. DNA markers that differentiate rootstocks are an important tool to verify identity among these rootstocks during the vegetative propagation stage. The simple sequence repeat (SSR) marker PceGA59 was previously determined to uniquely distinguish the commercially available GiSelA® (GI 148/2 and GI 148/1) rootstocks (Struss et al. 2002).

A targeted approach was used to develop a second SSR that was capable of providing differentiation of the rootstock selections of the invention and others by the inventors. The approach used was based on the ability to obtain genome-wide SNP (Single Nucleotide Polymorphism) data using the Illumina Infinium® cherry SNP array (Peace et al. 2012). An analysis of genome-wide SNP data for the rootstocks resulted in the identification of a genomic region on linkage group 4 that was likely to differ among the MSU rootstocks.

Using the peach genome sequence, an SSR marker was designed to target this region. This SSR marker, termed PruG4RS, successfully differentiated the MSU rootstocks. The development of PruG4RS and its combined use with PceGA59 has successfully circumvented the limitations of each individual marker and proven effective for use as a “quality control” DNA diagnostic tool for the commercial ‘GiSelA®’ (GI 148/2 and GI 148/1) rootstocks as well as the MSU breeding program rootstock selections.

SSR Markers Used

Fingerprinting was performed using two simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers: PceGA59 and PruG4RS. The forward and reverse primers sequences for these two SSR markers are as follows:

The first primer pair, PceGA59, was published in Struss et al. (2002). However, the primer sequence reflects the addition of GC clamps. Based on genetic data for the MSU cherry rootstocks we designed a second primer, PruG4RS (Andersen et al. 2015)

Plant Material Used and DNA Extraction

Cherry DNA was extracted from young unfolded leaf blades using the procedure of Edge-Garza et al. (2014).

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)

PCR amplification was performed for the two SSRs using the following conditions: 94° C. for 5 min followed by 9 cycles of 94° C. for 30 s, 60° C. for 45 s (−1° C. per cycle), 72° C. for 1 min and then 24 cycles of 94° C. for 30 s, 55° C. for 45 s, 72° C. for 1 min with an elongation step of 72° C. for 5 min.

Gel Electrophoresis and Fragment Visualization

The PCR products were visualized by electrophoresis on a 6% denaturing polyacrylamide gel in a 50 cm Sequi-Gen GT vertical sequencing apparatus (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Hercules, Calif.) for 2.5 hours at 70 watts with 1× TBE buffer. Following electrophoresis, the gels were stained with the Silver Sequence DNA Sequencing System (Promega Corporation, Madison, Wis.) and dried for 24 hours. DNA fragment sizes were scored visually using 10 and 50 base pair ladders (Invitrogen Corporation, Carlsbad, Calif.).

All references cited herein, are hereby incorporated in their entirety by reference, including but not limited to the following which relate to determination of various alleles.

Andersen K, Sebolt A, Stegmeir T, Iezzoni A. 2015. Development of the Simple Sequence Repeat marker PruG4RS for the differentiation of cherry rootstocks. American Society for Horticultural Sciences Annual Conference, New Orleans, La., August 4-7, Poster #023.

Edge-Garza, D., Rowland, T., Haendiges, S. and Peace, C. 2014. A high-throughput and cost-efficient DNA extraction protocol for the tree fruit crops apple, sweet cherry, and peach relying on silica beads during tissue sampling. Molecular Breeding 34:2225-2228.