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1994｜Roses into which petunia blue genes were introduced flowered, but they showed no hint of blue
2025.12.22
Others Plant science Story1995｜Succeeded in producing blue carnation
We could not harvest the fruits of our efforts, and hard times continued for the members involved in this project. What encouraged the researchers was the success of the development of genetically modified blue carnations.
This article is a re-edited version of an article that appeared on our corporate website in 2014. Job titles, department names, and photos are current as of the time of publication (2014) and may differ from the present.
Article Summary
Although the petunia blue genes did not express in roses, the team shifted their efforts to carnations and succeeded in developing flowers that accumulated the blue pigment delphinidin. The resulting variety, named Moondust, became the world’s first genetically modified ornamental flower to be commercialized. This success reinforced the conviction that roses, too, could one day be turned blue, and provided strong encouragement for the research that followed. In this article, we revisit how the breakthrough in carnations shaped the next phase of rose research.
Successful development and commercialization of the blue carnation“Moonseries”
Blue genes of petunia did not work well in roses, but they worked as expected in carnations. The blue pigments “delphinidin” accumulated, and the color of flowers changed to blue.
These flowers, named “Moonseries,” were put on sale in Japan in 1997, and the number of varieties has increased since then. These elegant and beautiful flowers, which signify “eternal happiness” in the language of flowers, have gained popularity.
Moonseries are the first genetically modified flowers in the world that were commercialized. Currently, these blue carnations are produced in Columbia and Ecuador, and are sold primarily in the USA, but in Europe and some countries as well. In Japan, six varieties with different dark and light color combinations are sold. Presently, not only blue genes of petunias but also those of pansies are used for some varieties.
“Blue carnations” were born using an additional gene to blue genes (Senior General Manager Yoshikazu Tanaka Ph.D.)
Convinced that the color of roses could be changed
Although targeted pigments could not be produced for a long time in roses into which genes of petunias had been introduced, blue pigments were expressed in carnations a little earlier. As this expression only was not enough to turn the flower color into blue, we had to use a little ingenuity and introduce a combination of the blue genes and another petunia gene into selected white carnations. With the accumulation of only blue pigments by this method, we succeeded in producing blue carnations. This method was applied in the subsequent development of blue roses, chrysanthemums, and lilies.
Because the color of carnations changed, there was no reason we wouldn’t be able to change the color of roses. Because the blue genes had already been introduced, we were sure that we could produce blue roses eventually.
Carnations have a wide variety of colors
Since the first blue carnations in the world were released, they have been sold mostly for Mother’s Day. It is very difficult to produce many flowers all at once for that day, and the farmers get extremely busy.
Moonseries carnations have a wide variety of colors. The difference in colors is due to the difference in the amount of pigments. Blue pigments accumulate in the vacuoles of petal cells, and the vacuolar environment of carnations is quite different from that of roses. Because the pH in the vacuoles of roses is low, an increase in the amount of pigments results in a reddish color. We can say that roses are not at all suitable for turning blue. It is strange that production of the same kind of blue pigments in chrysanthemums results in much more pure blue than in roses.
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Yoshikazu Tanaka
Senior General Manager
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