Molecular breeding of flower color of Torenia hybrida

Abstract

Molecular breeding is a powerful method of plant breeding because it can change a specific characteristic of a plant without changing other desirable characteristics. Flower color is predominantly influenced by two types of pigments; flavonoids and carotenoids. The anthocyanin biosynthetic pathways of many plants have been well established (Holton et al, 1995) and conserved (Fig. 1). Chalcone synthase (CHS) and dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (DFR) are the first specific enzymes in flavonoid and anthocyanin biosynthesis, respectively. The presence of flavonoid 3′5′-hydroxylase (F3′5′H), cytochrome P-450 (Holton et al, 1993), is almost critical to the production of blue to purple anthocyanins. The flower color is reddish in its absence.