A blue rose is a flower of the genus Rosa (family Rosaceae) that presents blue-to-violet pigmentation instead of the more common red, white, or yellow. Blue roses are often used to symbolize mystery or the unattainable, [1] since they do not exist in nature because of genetic limitations. In 2002, researchers used genetic modification to create roses that contain the blue pigment delphinidin. In 2004, this was then announced to the world.
So-called "blue roses" have been bred by conventional hybridization methods, but the results, such as "Blue Moon", are more accurately described as lilac in color.
Since blue roses do not exist in nature, as roses lack the specific gene that has the ability to produce a "true blue" color, blue roses are traditionally created by dyeing white roses.[ citation needed ] In a book entitled Kitāb al-filāḥah [2] written by Ibn al-'Awwām al-Ishbīlī [3] in Arabic in the 12th century, and translated into French by J. J. Clement as Le livre de l'agriculture, [4] there are references to azure blue roses that were known to the Orient. These blue roses were made by placing a blue dye into the bark of the roots.
Scientists have yet to produce a truly blue colored rose; however, after thirteen years of collaborative research by an Australian company, Florigene, and a Japanese company, Suntory, a rose containing the blue pigment delphinidin was created in 2002 by genetic engineering of a white rose. [5] The company and press have described it as a blue rose, but it is lavender or pale mauve in color. [6]
The genetic engineering involved three alterations – adding two genes, and interfering with another. First, the researchers inserted a gene for the blue plant pigment delphinidin cloned from the pansy into a purplish-red Old Garden rose "Cardinal de Richelieu", resulting in a dark burgundy rose. [5] [7] The researchers then used RNA interference (RNAi) technology to depress all other color production by endogenous genes by blocking a crucial protein in color production, called dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (DFR), and adding a variant of that protein that would not be blocked by the RNAi but that would allow the color of the delphinidin to show. If the strategy worked perfectly, in theory, it could produce a truly blue rose. However, the RNAi did not completely knock out the activity of DFR, so the resulting flower still made some of its natural color, and so was a red-tinged blue – a mauve or lavender. [5] [8] Additionally, rose petals are more acidic than pansy petals, and the pansy delphinidin in the transgenic roses is degraded by the acidity in the rose petals. Further deepening the blue colour would therefore require further modifications, by traditional breeding or further genetic engineering, to make the rose less acidic. [5]
As of 2008 [update] , the GM roses were being grown in test batches at the Martino Cassanova seed institution in South Hampshire, according to company spokesman Atsuhito Osaka. [9] Suntory was reported to have sold 10,000 Applause blue roses in Japan in 2010. [10] Prices were from 2,000 to 3,000 Yen or US$22 to $35 a stem. [11] The company announced that North American sales would commence in the fall of 2011. [12]
Due to the lack of blue roses in nature, they have come to symbolise mystery and something close to be unachievable. Among some cultures there is a tradition that the owner of a blue rose will have all their wishes granted. [13]
In popular culture, they appear:
Purple is a color similar in appearance to violet light. In the RYB color model historically used in the arts, purple is a secondary color created by combining red and blue pigments. In the CMYK color model used in modern printing, purple is made by combining magenta pigment with either cyan pigment, black pigment, or both. In the RGB color model used in computer and television screens, purple is created by mixing red and blue light in order to create colors that appear similar to violet light.
Magenta is a purplish-red color. On color wheels of the RGB (additive) and CMY (subtractive) color models, it is located precisely midway between violet and red. It is one of the four colors of ink used in color printing by an inkjet printer, along with yellow, cyan, and black to make all the other colors. The tone of magenta used in printing, printer's magenta, is redder than the magenta of the RGB (additive) model, the former being closer to rose.
Dianthus caryophyllus, commonly known as carnation or clove pink, is a species of Dianthus native to the Mediterranean region. Its exact natural range is uncertain due to extensive cultivation over the last 2,000 years. Carnations are prized for their vibrant colors, delicate fringed petals, and enchanting fragrance.
Suntory Holdings Limited is a Japanese multinational brewing and distilling company group. Established in 1899, it is one of the oldest companies in the distribution of alcoholic beverages in Japan, and makes Japanese whisky.
Anthocyanidins are common plant pigments, the aglycones of anthocyanins. They are based on the flavylium cation, an oxonium ion, with various groups substituted for its hydrogen atoms. They generally change color from red through purple, blue, and bluish green as a function of pH.
A dilution gene is any one of a number of genes that act to create a lighter coat color in living creatures. There are many examples of such genes:
Eye color is a polygenic phenotypic trait determined by two factors: the pigmentation of the eye's iris and the frequency-dependence of the scattering of light by the turbid medium in the stroma of the iris.
Bay is a hair coat color of horses, characterized by a reddish-brown or brown body color with a black point coloration on the mane, tail, ear edges, and lower legs. Bay is one of the most common coat colors in many horse breeds.
The champagne gene is a simple dominant allele responsible for a number of rare horse coat colors. The most distinctive traits of horses with the champagne gene are the hazel eyes and pinkish, freckled skin, which are bright blue and bright pink at birth, respectively. The coat color is also affected: any hairs that would have been red are gold, and any hairs that would have been black are chocolate brown. If a horse inherits the champagne gene from either or both parents, a coat that would otherwise be chestnut is instead gold champagne, with bay corresponding to amber champagne, seal brown to sable champagne, and black to classic champagne. A horse must have at least one champagne parent to inherit the champagne gene, for which there is now a DNA test.
Lysimachia monelli, the blue pimpernel or garden pimpernel is a species of flowering plant in the family Primulaceae, native to the Mediterranean region. It is not to be confused with Lysimachia foemina, which has very similar blue flowers, but broader leaves and can be found also in colder climates. In a comparison of DNA sequences, L. monelli was shown to be most closely related to L. foemina. The latter had been thought by many to be closest to L. arvensis, and some authors had even included L. foemina as a subspecies of L. arvensis. The three species were among several transferred from Anagallis to Lysimachia in a 2009 paper.
Florigene is a biotechnology company based in Melbourne, Australia, which is principally involved in the application of in-house genetic modification techniques to develop novel colour expressions in a range of commercial plants.
Genetically modified plants have been engineered for scientific research, to create new colours in plants, deliver vaccines, and to create enhanced crops. Plant genomes can be engineered by physical methods or by use of Agrobacterium for the delivery of sequences hosted in T-DNA binary vectors. Many plant cells are pluripotent, meaning that a single cell from a mature plant can be harvested and then under the right conditions form a new plant. This ability is most often taken advantage by genetic engineers through selecting cells that can successfully be transformed into an adult plant which can then be grown into multiple new plants containing transgene in every cell through a process known as tissue culture.
In enzymology, a dihydrokaempferol 4-reductase (EC 1.1.1.219) is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction
A metalloanthocyanin is a chemical complex giving color to petals of certain plants.
Myrtillin is an anthocyanin. It is the 3-glucoside of delphinidin. It can be found in all green plants, most abundantly in black beans, blackcurrant, blueberry, huckleberry, bilberry leaves and in various myrtles, roselle plants, and Centella asiatica plant. It is also present in yeast and oatmeal. The sumac fruit's pericarp owes its dark red colour to anthocyanin pigments, of which chrysanthemin, myrtillin and delphinidin have yet been identified.
Lavender or self-blue refers to a plumage color pattern in the chicken characterized by a uniform, pale bluish grey color across all feathers. The distinctive color is caused by the action of an autosomal recessive gene, commonly designated as "lav", which reduces the expression of eumelanin and phaeomelanin so that black areas of the plumage appear pale grey instead, and red areas appear a pale buff.
Violet is a color term derived from the flower of the same name. There are numerous variations of the color violet, a sampling of which are shown below.
There are numerous variations of the color purple, a sampling of which is shown below.
Blue flower colour was always associated with something unusual and desired. Blue roses especially were assumed to be a dream that cannot be realised. Blue colour in flower petals is caused by anthocyanins, which are members of flavonoid class metabolites. We can diversify three main classes of anthocyanin pigments: cyaniding type responsible for red coloration, pelargonidin type responsible for orange colour and delphinidin type responsible for violet/blue flower and fruits coloration. The main difference in the structure of listed anthocyanins type is the number of hydroxyl groups in the B-ring of the anthocyanin. Nevertheless, in the monomeric state anthocyanins never show blue colour in the weak acidic and neutral pH. The mechanism of blue colour formation are very complicated in most cases, presence of delphinidin type pigments is not sufficient, great role play also the pH and the formation of complexes of anthocyanins with flavones and metal ions.
Orange petunias or A1-DFR petunias are genetically modified organisms which contain a transgene from maize that colors the petunia flowers orange. First created in a 1987 experiment at the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Cologne, the petunias were subsequently released into the wild but were not commercialized. In 2015 orange petunias were discovered in Helsinki by botanist Teemu Teeri, leading to a regulatory response dubbed the petunia carnage of 2017 in which plant sellers were directed to destroy the modified petunia plants rather than sell them. The United States Department of Agriculture approved the sale of orange petunias in the United States in January 2021.