Ethylene Production and Petal Wilting during Senescence of Cut Carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus) Flowers and Prolonging Their Vase Life by Genetic Transformation

Senescence of carnation flowers is characterized by autocatalytic ethylene production from petals and subsequent wilting of the petals. Recent studies on the regulation of ethylene production and wilting in senescing carnation petals revealed that (1) petal senescence is triggered by ethylene evolved from the gynoecium during natural senescence, (2) ethylene production in the gynoecium is induced by a factor(s) other than pollination signals in carnation flowers lacking anthers, (3) there are two subsets of ethylene responses in the petals, one responsible for autocatalytic ethylene production and the other for wilting, (4) expression of genes involved in the execution of petal withering is differently regulated between ethylene-dependent or -independent senescence. Furthermore, it was revealed that the generation of transgenic carnation without detectable ethylene production is useful to prolong the vase life of cut carnation flowers.