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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Byron, Georgia » Fruit and Tree Nut Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #425401
Research Project: Genetic Improvement of Stone Fruit Crops/Cultivars for the Southeastern United States

Location: Fruit and Tree Nut Research

Title: Genetic determinants of the flower color transition trait in autotetraploid rose populations

Author
item GILL, HARAMRIT - University Of California - Cooperative Extension Service
item Lau, Jeekin
item WHITELEY, LUKE - Texas A&M University
item FU, QIUYI - Michigan State University
item KLEIN, PATRICIA - Texas A&M University
item BYRNE, DAVID - Texas A&M University
item RIERA-LIZARAZU, OSCAR - Texas A&M University

Submitted to: Scientia Horticulturae
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/4/2025
Publication Date: 11/7/2025
Citation: Gill, H., Lau, J., Whiteley, L., Fu, Q., Klein, P., Byrne, D., Riera-Lizarazu, O. 2025. Genetic determinants of the flower color transition trait in autotetraploid rose populations. Scientia Horticulturae. 353. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2025.114490.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2025.114490

Interpretive Summary: Roses are important ornamental plants which have flowers of many different colors. Recently, we found an interesting color changing phenotype that we call, "flower color transition trait", in which flower petals begin as light yellow and accumulate pink to red color as the flower ages. This new trait is very visually attractive, because at any given time, plants with flowers of all different ages display different colored flowers all on the same plant. Our research here aims at trying to understand the genetic underlying components that explain the shift in colors of the flowers. To our knowledge, the first to attempt to understand the genetic molecular mechanisms that affect the changing flower pigmentation patterns in rose. We found genetic factors (quantitative trait loci) associated with both flower color and the flower color transition trait on linkage groups, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7. Some of these loci are near genes that are involved in the flavonoid biosynthetic pathways which are known to affect color pigmentation in plants. Understanding the genetic inheritance of this trait may help us breed more roses with this specific desirable trait.

Technical Abstract: Some roses exhibit a unique phenotype that we call flower color transition. Roses that have this phenotype have flowers with petals that transition from a light yellow to a dark pink/red color as the flower ages. This is an attractive commercial feature for the industry, but also an intriguing phenotype to better understand the genetics of rose flower color patterning. Two tetraploid garden rose F1 populations segregating for the flower color transition phenotype were used for this study. To better understand the genetic basis of this trait, we conducted a quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping study. Our analysis suggests the presence of QTL on LGs 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7 that affect both flower color and the flower color transition trait. The locations of QTL associated with the flower color transition trait coincide with the locations of structural genes involved in the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway and transcription factors regulating them. This study suggests that the regulation of the color transition phenotype is complex and involves the interplay of multiple factors that either promote or inhibit flower pigmentation. This study also paves the way for studies to identify molecular mechanisms that affect flower color transition in roses, which in turn, may guide strategies to develop roses with unique pigmentation patterns.