Geneticienii au obtinut trandafiri albastri

Oameni de stiinta din Japonia au anuntat reusita unui experiment, in cadrul caruia au obtinut trandafiri… albastri. Cercetatorii companiei Suntory, alaturi de australienii de la Florigene Ltd., au efectuat mai multe modificari genetice asupra trandafirilor pana cand au reusit sa obtina flori de culoare albastra.

Conform Ananova.com, purtatorul de cuvant al firmei Suntory a precizat ca trandafirii albastri vor incepe sa fie comercializati incepand cu anul 2009.


El a mentionat ca cercetatorii au avut nevoie de 14 ani pentru a ajunge la acest rezultat. ‘Ne asteptam ca aceasta floare sa fie cumparata de barbati cu venituri mari, care doresc sa faca un cadou special persoanei iubite. Expertii au spus ca este imposibil sa creezi un trandafir albastru, motiv pentru care am decis sa finantam acest proiect’, a declarat acesta.

In mod natural, petalele trandafirului nu contin deloc pigmenti albastri, fapt pentru care cercetatorii au identificat gena responsabila de acest pigment in specii din alte genuri botanice si au transferat-o in genomul trandafirilor.

"SUNTORY has focused on this finding and, in 1990, in cooperation with an Australian bio-venture company Calgene Pacific (now: Florigene Ltd.) started the joint development of biotechnology-driven blue roses. Since then we have been pursuing our research attempting to develop blue roses by retrieving the genes necessary to create blue pigments from other plants such as petunia and implanting these into roses. The world's first blue carnations were born in this development process in 1995 and, in Japan, they were named "Moondust" where they have been marketed since 1997"

"For the first time in the world, SUNTORY has succeeded in creating blue pigment in roses by implanting the gene that leads to the synthesis of blue pigment from pansy. Unlike the roses created by using conventional breeding technologies, the roses developed by us have almost 100%* Delphinidin in their petals, which has allowed these new and very different blue roses to become a reality. Although traditional roses have only red pigments, by using the blue roses we have developed as a starting point, it is expected that roses with the ability to create a blue pigment will soon lead more variety in rose flower colour."