Orange on Top!

A consortium with researchers from Dümmen Orange, Wageningen University and the University of Helsinki joined forces on colour research.

We love orange flowers. But not all flowers are available in beautiful orange. How come? A consortium with researchers from Dümmen Orange, Wageningen University and theUniversity of Helsinki joined forces to find out why, in order to add more orange to our planet!

Flower colour is a major selection criterion for variety creation in the ornamental breeding industry. The number of methods allowed in Europe to generate new colour types is limited, however, there is a wealth of knowledge on colour formation in model species available to study in ornamental crops. One of the crops in which colour type lately became a major topic is Petunia.

In the recently NWO-granted project "Orange on Top", the consortium, led by dr. Julian Verdonk, will research the biological pathways to different colour types in Petunia. In Petunia, anthocyanins (purple and pink pigments) are readily formed, while the accumulation of carotenoids (yellow and orange) is limited. “Orange on Top” will study what is preventing this accumulation. This knowledge enables us in future to grow orange petunias as well as any other ornamental flower!