Genetic Transformation for Quality Improvement in Ornamental Climbers

Abstract

The climbers have very important role as ornamentals (e.g. Bougainvillea , Clematis , Bignonia , Lonicera , fl oribunda rose, Asparagus racemosus , Gloriosa superba , Trachelospermum jasminoides , Ceropegia spp., etc.) and as medicinal plants (e.g. Gymnema sylvestre , Tinospora cordifolia , Gloriosa superba , Asparagus racemosus , Piper betle , Holostemma ada-kodien ). But there are many problems associated with their propagation, breeding, untimely ripening of male and female fl owers, biotic and abiotic stress and also many types of diseases. Plant transformations including Agrobacterium -mediated; virus-mediated, chemical-mediated microinjection; electroporation; particle bombardment; RNAi and miRNA technologies are routinely being used for the improvement of crops, to develop desired transgenics and to introduce various types of biotic and abiotic resistance in plants. Mutation breeding is a conventional and time-consuming technique for modifying the target traits in plant systems. To overcome this, genetic transformation can be used for the modifi cation of trait-related genes in few plants.Flower colour, fl ower fragrance, dwarfi sm and increase in vase life of climbing ornamentals are some of the important areas of research which contribute to the market value of any ornamental plant. In last few decades, the relationship between fl avonoid biosynthetic pathway and anthocyanin production has been well studied, and genetic engineering is being used to produce cultivars with novel pigmentation in fl owers by modifi cation in the biosynthesis of fl avonoid/anthocyanin. Initially, blue rose was developed by introducing genes for delphinidin pigments to ordinary roses. But recently, gene silencing using RNAi technology is being used to prevent red pigment formation and allow the production of blue pigment. Colour intensity and fl ower longevity can be increased by the transformation and modulation of genes that encode for pigment and ethylene biosynthetic pathways. However, with the knowledge of genes related to fragrance biosynthesis, one can improve the ornamental climbers, such as Quisqualis indica ,

From Lab to Bouquet: The Biotechnological Frontier in Modern Floriculture for Sustainable and Resilient Flower Farming

“…The carotenoids and/or red malonylated cyanidin glucosides that are responsible for the various colours of chrysanthemum are the primary producers of these colours. There is a gene called CmCCD4a that is only expressed in the ray petals of the white chrysanthemum [18]. This gene is important for inhibiting the production and accumulation of carotenoids in the petals.…”

CRISPR/Cas9 System: A Potential Tool for Genetic Improvement in Floricultural Crops

“…Genome sequence information on important decorative plant species would be immensely beneficial in ornamental plant breeding and research following the debut of next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies in 2005. Genetic transformation is an essential requirement for the development and improvement of flowering crops when distinguished with mutation breeding, which delivers a “subtractive” one-point improvement in flowers [ 18 ]. Ever since the very first transformation in ornamentals described in 1987, genetic transformation is acknowledged as an important method to develop desirable cultivars [ 19 , 20 ].…”

Establishment of an efficient regeneration and Agrobacterium transformation system in mature embryos of calla lily (Zantedeschia spp.)

“…Conventional breeding strategies, such as hybridization and mutant breeding, result in the complicated inheritance of genetic factors and require much time ( Azadi et al, 2016 ). In contrast, genetically modified breeding (GMB) simplifies and expedites breeding by introducing one or more genes to an organism’s genome using contemporary molecular techniques ( Singh et al, 2015 ). In addition, the implementation of GMB relies on a stable and effective genetic transformation system.…”