Alteration of Flower Color in Viola cornuta cv. Lutea Splendens through Metabolic Engineering of Capsanthin/Capsorubin Synthesis

Flower color is an important characteristic that determines the commercial value of ornamental plants. The development of modern biotechnology methods such as genetic engineering enables the creation of new flower colors that cannot be achieved with classical methods of hybridization or mutational breeding. This is the first report on the successful Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation of Viola cornuta L. The hypocotyl explants of cv. Lutea Splendens variety with yellow flowers were transformed with A. tumefaciens carrying empty pWBVec10a vector (Llccs(-)) or pWBVec10a/CaMV 35S::Llccs::TNos vector (Llccs(+)) for capsanthin/capsorubin synthase gene (Llccs) from tiger lily (Lilium lancifolium). A comparative study of shoot multiplication, rooting ability during culture in vitro, as well as phenotypic characteristics of untransformed (control) and transgenic Llccs(-) and Llccs(+) plants during ex vitro growth and flowering is presented. Successful integration of Llccs transgene allows the synthesis of red pigment capsanthin in petal cells that gives flowers different shades of an orange/reddish color. We demonstrate that the ectopic expression of Llccs gene in ornamental plants, such as V. cornuta Lutea Splendens could successfully be used to change flower color from yellow to different shades of orange.

Automated summary

Flower color is crucial for determining the commercial value of ornamental plants, and modern biotechnology methods enable the creation of new colors that cannot be achieved through classical methods. Successful Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation of Viola cornuta Lutea Splendens resulted in changing flower color from yellow to different shades of orange.