Public disclosure of a male-sterile Jatropha curcas trait found in wild accessions
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Bionic Palm Ltd. in Ghana has disclosed information about a male-sterile jatropha plant, a descendant of seeds from a wild jatropha curcas L. in Guatemala, essential for their breeding efforts. This disclosure counters a patent application by SG Biofuels claiming exclusive rights to female-only traits in jatropha. Bionic Palm is committed to open development to enhance jatropha breeding and has documented the process of male flower 'crippling' in their research.
Public disclosure of a male-sterile Jatropha curcas trait found in wild accessions
- 1. PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF JATROPHA BREEDING INFORMATION Bionic Palm Ltd., Accra, Ghana, is disclosing the ownership of a male-sterile Jatropha plant which is a direct descendant from seeds collected from a wild Jatropha curcas L. plant in the Southwest of Guatemala Responsible for the content: Ulrich B Riemann, MD Bionic Palm Ltd. Email: info@bionic-palm.com Bionic Palm Limited: bionic-palm.com Jatropha Breeder by Bionic Palm: jatropha.bionic-enterprises.com 息 COPYRIGHT 2013 BIONIC PALM LIMITED 29/01/2013 1
- 2. MOTIVATION FOR THIS DISCLOSURE Patent application EP2521438 by SG Biofuels attempts to protect a generic female only (FO) trait in Jatropha curcas L. (JcL) The same patent application is trying to protect an absolutly standard general method for hybrid seed production in its use for JcL This disclosure proves that male sterility or a so called FO trait occurs naturally in JcL, at least in one accession picked from the wild in Guatemala Bionic Palm is in possesion of that accession and using it actively in its breeding efforts for improved JcL Bionic Palm is determined to keep Jatropha development as open as possible for all, as the only sound possibility to make significant plant enhancement possible in the short term. 息 COPYRIGHT 2013 BIONIC PALM LIMITED 29/01/2013 2
- 3. FROM SEED COLLECTION TO DISCOVERY OF THE MALE-STERILE TRAIT Seeds were collected from a single wild plant in Southwestern Guatemala (exact coordinates are available to BPL) Seedlings were raised in Europe A clone (cutting) was transferred to Ghana 11/2011 First flowering occured in 4/2012 Second flowering fruits have been harvested Third & forth flowering is currently ongoing 息 COPYRIGHT 2013 BIONIC PALM LIMITED 29/01/2013 3
- 4. PICTURE SERIES OF INFLORESCENSE DEVELOPMENT 息 COPYRIGHT 2013 BIONIC PALM LIMITED 29/01/2013 4
- 5. PROCESS OF MALE FLOWER CRIPPLING Occured that way without exception P1: crippling starts, most male & all female flower buds seem intact P2: all male buds clearly crippled, female buds doing fine P3: after fuit development started crippled male buds still around P4: fruits almost ripe, crippled male buds unchanged 息 COPYRIGHT 2013 BIONIC PALM LIMITED 29/01/2013 5
- 6. P1: MOST BUDS SEEM FINE 息 COPYRIGHT 2013 BIONIC PALM LIMITED 29/01/2013 6
- 7. P2: ALMOST ALL MALE BUDS ARE DEAD (5 DAYS AFTER THE LAST PICTURE, SAME INFLORESCENSE) 息 COPYRIGHT 2013 BIONIC PALM LIMITED 29/01/2013 7
- 8. P3: CRIPPLED MALE BUDS STILL AROUND 息 COPYRIGHT 2013 BIONIC PALM LIMITED 29/01/2013 8
- 9. P4: ...AND THEY ARE STILL VISIBLE IN THE END 息 COPYRIGHT 2013 BIONIC PALM LIMITED 29/01/2013 9
- 10. ANOTHER MALE STERILE FROM OUR PARENTAL ACCESSIONS For 2 years and many dozens of inflorescenses this and a sister plant have consistently not opened any male flowers. The behavior is however completely different: Female flowers open first while male buds are still looking good. At a later stage (days to weeks after pollination of the female flowers) the male buds turn yellow and fall off completely. This plant is a direct descendant from seeds collected from a wild plant in Mexico. Only some of the seeds taken from this very plant produced a male sterile line, while the others are completely fertile which makes the family extremely interesting for breeding tests. Even more interesting, the male steriles are toxic (a trait to be reconfirmed) while the fertiles are non-toxic on PE. 息 COPYRIGHT 2013 BIONIC PALM LIMITED 29/01/2013 10
- 11. PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF JATROPHA BREEDING INFORMATION BY BIONIC PALM LTD., ACCRA, GHANA Please address questions you might have regarding this disclosure via email to the below address: Email: info@bionic-palm.com More about our work can be found on our websites: Bionic Palm Limited: bionic-palm.com Jatropha Breeder by Bionic Palm: jatropha.bionic-enterprises.com 息 COPYRIGHT 2013 BIONIC PALM LIMITED 29/01/2013 11