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Genetic Engineering of Novel Flower Colors in Floricultural Plants: Recent Advances via Transgenic Approaches

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Protocols for In Vitro Propagation of Ornamental Plants

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 589))

Abstract

Since the first successful genetic engineering of flower color in petunia, several new techniques have been developed and applied to modify flower color not only in model plants but also in floricultural plants. A typical example is the commercial violet-flowered carnation “Moondust series” developed by Suntry Ltd. and Florigene Ltd. More recently, blue-flowered roses have been successfully produced and are expected to be commercially available in the near future. In recent years, successful modification of flower color by sophisticated regulation of flower-pigment metabolic pathways has become possible. In this chapter, we review recent advances in flower color modification by genetic engineering, especially focusing on the methodology. We have included our own recent results on successful production of flower-color-modified transgenic plants in a model plant, tobacco and an ornamental plant, gentian. Based on these results, genetic engineering of flower color for improvement of floricultural plants is discussed.

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Acknowledgments

This research was partially supported by the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports, and Culture, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) (no. 18580010) and Young Scientists (B) (no. 18789005). We thank Drs S. Mohan Jain and S. J. Ochatt for providing us with the opportunity to write this review. We also thank Dr Y. Tanaka (Suntry Ltd, Japan) for providing information about literature.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Iwate Biotechnology Research Center, Narita, Kitakami, Iwate, Japan

    Masahiro Nishihara & Takashi Nakatsuka

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  1. Masahiro Nishihara
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  2. Takashi Nakatsuka
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Correspondence to Masahiro Nishihara .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Biology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    S. Mohan Jain

  2. UMRLEG, PCMV, INRA, Dijon CX, 21065, France

    Sergio J. Ochatt

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Nishihara, M., Nakatsuka, T. (2010). Genetic Engineering of Novel Flower Colors in Floricultural Plants: Recent Advances via Transgenic Approaches. In: Jain, S., Ochatt, S. (eds) Protocols for In Vitro Propagation of Ornamental Plants. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 589. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-114-1_29

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-114-1_29

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  • Print ISBN: 978-1-60327-390-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-60327-114-1

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