| Abstract |
Blue flowers have the power to attract people. So far, there have been attempts to produce blue flowers using genetic modification techniques. The most famous of these flowers is the blue carnation. Subsequently, blue roses have also been produced. However, the color of the petals of these flowers is not pure blue, but reddish blue or almost reddish purple. These indicate that there is still some improvement to be made in order to produce a true blue flower. We examined whether a petal-specific promoter from Ipomoea nil (morning glory) could be used to produce blue petals. Using this promoter, we expressed the flavonoid 3',5'-hydroxylase (F3’5’H) gene, which is involved in the synthesis of the blue pigment delphinidin, in tobacco petals. Here we showed that the promoter from morning glory has the capability to express the gene in tobacco petals. Among the F3'5'H genes derived from Petunia, Torenia, and Eustoma, the gene from Petunia was the most effective. Here we showed that the promoter from morning glory has the capability to express the gene in tobacco petals. Among the F3'5'H genes derived from Petunia, Torenia, and Eustoma, the gene from Petunia was the most effective. Although expressing the Petunia F3'5'H gene resulted in tobacco petals being reddish purple rather than blue, the present results suggest co-expressing the F3'5'H genes of multiple species with multiple promoters can produce blue petals.
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