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).