Blue Rose

This news was recently published in a Floral Industry Trade publication.
Exciting!!!

04/01/2009 The first blue rose is a step closer to becoming reality. Scientists have discovered a new gene that makes blue flower varieties possible.
Scientists in the Genetics Department at the Earth and Life Sciences Faculty of the Amsterdam Free University have discovered the secret of flower colors. Researchers have tracked down the gene PH5, which plant cells use to regulate acidity (pH). Mutations to the gene can result in Petunia petals taking on the aberrant color blue.

pH dependentFlower color pigments produce the color in flowers and are contained in so-called vacuoles. These are fluid filled blisters in which reserve matter, pigments and waste products, are stored. The vacuoles are found in the scarfskin cells of the petals. The color of the pigment depends on the level of acidity, i.e. the pH. Where there is a low pH (an acid environment) the pigments are red, where the pH is higher (a neutral environment) they are blue.

Blue color -
The scientists used the flower color to find Petunia mutants that have lost the facility to acidify the vacuole. This results in a blue color. The research has shown that there are at least seven different genes (specifically PH1 to PH7) that result in a blue flower color and an increase in the pH in the vacuole. The PH5 gene is unusual because it appears to be a part of a specific acidification mechanism that is unique to petal cells. A blue color results when the PH5 in the flower is ‘switched off’. The discovery of this gene opens up possibilities of finally producing a blue rose (or carnation, lily or Gerbera).