Abstract
We investigated longevity, ethylene production and ethylene sensitivity of flowers among 42 pot carnation cultivars. Our results indicate that there was a large genetic variability in flower longevity and ethylene synthesis in pot carnation cultivars. Five cultivars (‘Polaris’, ‘Camille Pink’, ‘Chiffon’, ‘Bambino’ and ‘Nina’) had a mean flower longevity of more than 9.7 days. These cultivars with long flower longevity showed low ethylene production at senescence and showed neither petal in-rolling nor rapid wilting, which are typical symptoms of ethylene-dependent senescence. Instead, these flowers faded and turned brown along their petal edges. Significant negative correlations were observed between flower longevity and ethylene production at senescence, and between flower longevity and autocatalytic ethylene production. Although large genetic variability in ethylene sensitivity was observed in diploid cultivars, there was no correlation between flower longevity and ethylene sensitivity. Our data showed that polyploidy level in pot carnation cultivars does not have a profound influence on flower longevity or ethylene sensitivity. This study suggests that improvement of flower longevity of pot carnation using cross breeding techniques would be feasible.
