Genetic Engineering of Cut Flowers

The cut flower industry has become a bankable and prominent industry in many countries because new creations command high price in the market.  Breeding for unique shape, color and scent in addition to the usual breeding objectives of pest and disease resistance has been done conventionally, but can be hastened through the current genetic modification techniques. The first blue rose developed by Australian corporation Florigene is genetically modified (GM), made by transferring the gene for blue  pigment Delphinidin from violets accompanied by the inactivation of the genes for red and orange pigments. Currently, roses command a $10 billion global market share of the $49 billion yearly cut flower sale.

Since 1996 when Florigene introduced the first GM carnation flowers with pale violet color called Moondust, it has added five more species of carnation with different features of violet and blue through the GM technology. Besides the development of designer plants such as light blue torenias, bronze-colored forsythia and yellow petunia, other new characteristics in cut flowers are being explored by different corporations. These include new fragrances in rose, prolonged shelf-life, drought and stress tolerance, and cold resistance to withstand the long-haul transport.

For details see the media release at: http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/news/stories/350.genetic_engineering_cut_flowers.html