Patent Application
20160021839
Various embodiments of the present invention relate generally to methods and apparatuses for manual dispensing of pollen. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention provide a method and apparatus configured to facilitate manual dispensing of grains of pollen from one or more tassels.
For a variety of reasons, plant species may be intentionally bred. For example, in some applications plant species are intentionally bred to form hybrid plant species. In some applications, hybrid plants are bred to exhibit various desirable traits. Such traits may include, for example, resistance to heat and drought, resistance to disease and insect damage, improved yield characteristics, and improved agronomic quality. In general, plants may be capable of self-pollination, cross-pollination, or both. Self-pollination describes pollination using pollen from one flower that is transferred to the same or another flower of the same plant. Cross-pollination describes pollination using pollen delivered from a flower of a different plant from a different family or line.
Plants that have been self-pollinated and selected for many generations become homozygous at almost all gene loci and produce a uniform population of true breeding progeny. A cross between two different homozygous lines produces a uniform population of hybrid plants that may be heterozygous for many gene loci. A cross of two plants each heterozygous at a number of gene loci will produce a population of heterogeneous plants that differ genetically and will not be uniform.
Maize (Zea mays L.), often referred to as corn in the United States, can be bred by both self-pollination and cross-pollination techniques. Maize has separate male and female flowers on the same plant. The male flowers are located on the tassel and the female flowers are located on the ear. Natural pollination occurs in maize when wind blows grains of pollen from the tassels to the silks that protrude from the tops of the ears.
The development of a hybrid maize variety in a maize seed production program may involve three steps: (1) the selection of plants from various germplasm pools for initial breeding crosses; (2) self-pollination of the selected plants from the breeding crosses for several generations to produce a series of inbred lines, which, individually breed true and are highly uniform; and (3) crossing a selected inbred line with an unrelated inbred line to produce the hybrid progeny. After a sufficient amount of inbreeding successive filial generations will merely serve to increase seed of the developed inbred. Preferably, an inbred line should comprise homozygous alleles at about 95% or more of its loci.
During the maize inbreeding process, vigor of the line may decrease. Vigor may be restored when two different inbred lines are crossed to produce the hybrid progeny. An important consequence of the homozygosity and homogeneity of the inbred lines is that the hybrid between a defined pair of inbreds may be reproduced indefinitely as long as the homogeneity of the inbred parents is maintained. Once the inbreds that create a superior hybrid have been identified, a continual supply of the hybrid seed can be produced using these inbred parents and the hybrid corn plants can then be generated from this hybrid seed supply.
Accordingly, development and production of maize seed may require controlled pollination at one or more steps, as described above.
In one embodiment an apparatus for manual dispensing of maize pollen is provided. The apparatus includes a reusable air discharger having an internal cavity and an outlet, the air discharger being configured, when actuated, to expel air from the internal cavity through the outlet. The apparatus also includes a single use, biodegradable applicator having a first open end and a second open end, wherein the first open end is in communication with the outlet of the air discharger. The applicator is further configured to receive at least one maize tassel containing maize pollen thereon, and to direct the maize pollen through the second end of the applicator upon actuation of the air discharger.
In another embodiment, the applicator may comprise a cone made of a paper material, and the first open end of the applicator may comprises a larger open end of the cone and the second open end of the applicator may comprise a smaller open end of the cone. In another embodiment, the air discharger may comprise a hand-operated bulb pump that further comprises an inlet, and wherein, when actuated, the bulb pump may be further configured to introduce air into the internal cavity through the inlet. In one embodiment, the bulb pump further comprises two one-way valves, one of which is in communication with the inlet and the other of which is in communication with the outlet, such that, when actuated, air expelled from the internal cavity only through the outlet, and is introduced into the internal cavity only through the inlet, thus creating unidirectional air flow. In another embodiment, the air discharger may include indicia configured to indicate a proper orientation between the air discharger with the applicator.
Having thus described the invention in general terms, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:
Manually collecting and dispensing pollen using existing methods may be very labor intensive. For example, using existing methods a worker may manually collect pollen by knocking it off of the tassels of the ear corn into a tassel bag. Further, the worker may then manually sprinkle the pollen onto the anthers of female corn which have been covered with a shoot bag so as to prevent pollination with pollen other than the collected grains of pollen. Collection of pollen and controlled pollination using existing methods may involve many manual steps that may be conducted over the course of one or more days. Further, application of pollen using tassel bags may not efficiently make use of the collected pollen since the tassel bag may not allow for targeted application of the pollen in an easily controlled manner. Thus, workers may tend to apply more of the pollen than would otherwise be necessary. Accordingly, embodiments of the invention provide improved apparatuses and methods for manual dispensing pollen.
The present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some, but not all embodiments of the invention are shown. Indeed, the invention may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legal requirements. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.
According to the present invention, controlled pollination of plants, for example during cross-pollination, involves collecting and dispensing pollen using the apparatuses and methods described herein.
In this regard,
When the apparatus 10 is in an assembled condition (
Although in other embodiments the air discharger may be one of a variety of devices (for example, in some embodiments, the air discharger may be a single orifice device capable of discharging a gas, such as a CO2 cartridge), in the depicted embodiment the air discharger 12 is a hand-operated bulb pump having, in addition to the outlet 18, an inlet 24. Upon being actuated, such as, for example, by squeezing the bulb, the hand-operated bulb pump is configured to expel air through the outlet 18. When the bulb is released, the hand-operated bulb pump is configured to draw air into its internal cavity 16 through the inlet 24. To aid in this operation, the hand-operated bulb pump of the depicted embodiment includes a first one-way valve 26, which is in communication with the inlet 24, and a second one-way valve 28, which is in communication with the outlet 18. In such a manner, when the hand-operated bulb pump is actuated, air is expelled from the internal cavity 16 only through the outlet 18, and is introduced into the internal cavity 16 only through the inlet 24, thus creating unidirectional air flow. It should be noted that in other embodiments, a semi-automated device could replace the bulb to generate the air stream. For example, a small battery powered air compressor could be activated, such as, for example, by pressing a button or pulling a trigger.
This unidirectional air flow is advantageous in controlling the source of pollen in a controlled pollination event when using the air discharger 12 to pollinate multiple target maize plants. To further aid in controlling the source of pollen in a controlled pollination event, indicia 30 may be added to indicate the proper mating orientation of the air discharger 12 with respect to the applicator 14. In the depicted embodiment, indicia 30 comprises an arrow that shows the direction of air flow through the air discharger 12. As such, in various embodiments multiple applicators 14 may be used, each applicator 14 configured to receive at least one maize tassel containing maize pollen thereon, together with a common air discharger 12. In various embodiments, the applicators 14 may be configured to be single use, biodegradable applicators. Although in various embodiments, a single use, biodegradable applicator may be constructed of one or more of a variety of materials, in one embodiment single use, the biodegradable applicators may be constructed of a paper material. In such a manner, after use the single use biodegradable applicator may be discarded, such as on the ground of the field containing the maize plants. Since air only flows in one direction through the applicator 14, and with proper orientation established between the air discharger 12 and applicator 14, the present invention may increase the certainty that a controlled pollination event using pollen from one source (such as, for example, a tassel from one maize corn plant) will not cross-contaminate a controlled pollination event using pollen from another source (such as, for example, a tassel from another maize corn plant).
In such a manner,
Although the above examples were made specific to maize plants, maize pollen, and maize tassels, the apparatuses, systems, and methods described herein may be applicable to any plant having similar tassel or pollen configurations.
Many modifications and other embodiments of the invention set forth herein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which these invention pertains having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/US2014/023627 | 3/11/2014 | WO | 00 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61792105 | Mar 2013 | US |
