Moonvista™ carnation

Moonvista™ is a carnation variety in which the flowers have a modified colour as the result of genes enabling the biosynthesis of delphinidin pigment. The flowers also carry an herbicide resistance gene to facilitate selection in vitro.

NOTE: This LMO was formerly referred to with the UID FLO-4Ø685-1.

pCGP1991

Colour-modified carnation produced through introduction of two anthocyanin biosynthetic genes to result in a violet/mauve colouration, the dfr gene which encodes dihydroflavonol reductase and the Hf1 gene which encodes flavonoid 3',5'hydroxylase (F3'5'H) from Petunia hybrida.  A variant form of acetolactate synthase (ALS) from Nicotiana tabacum was used as a selectable marker to confer tolerance to sulfonylurea herbicide.

There are up to five copies of each integrated component of the T-DNA, and integration of T-DNA has occurred at four loci. Estimated copy numbers of T-DNA components integrated in transgenic line FLO-40685-1 as follows: LB - 2 copies, NtALS (SurB) - 2 copies, VhF3'5'H - 4 copies, PhDFR - 2 copies, RB - 5 copies.

These carnations were developed using recombinant DNA techniques to produce flowers with a unique violet/mauve colour by introducing two genes from petunia (Petunia hybrida) that function together in the biosynthesis of the anthocyanin pigment delphinidin. The transgenic lines were derived from the parent cultivar 'White Unesco', which is a white coloured carnation that was selected for a mutation in the dihydroflavonol reductase (DFR) encoding gene that did not allow for expression of a functional enzyme, and thus did not produce the anthocyanin type pigments that give rise to blue and red coloured flowers. The two genes from Petunia hybrida introduced into the transgenic carnation lines included a functional dihydroflavonol reductase encoding gene (dfr) and a gene (hf1) encoding the enzyme flavonoid 3', 5'-hydroxylase (F3'5'H), a member of the NADPH-Cytochrome P450 reductase family. Expression of the F3'5'H encoding gene allows for the production of blue coloured delphinidin anthocyanin pigments, which are not normally found in carnations.

Tolerance to sulfonyl urea herbicides was produced via the introduction of a chlorsulfuron tolerant version of the acetolactate synthase (ALS) encoding gene from tobacco (SuRB).