Abstract
In order to modify the blue flower color in cultivated gentian, we first attempted to introduce an antisense construct targeted for chs. Successful production of transgenic plants with loss of the flower color enable us to promote genetic modification in gentians. Here we applied RNAi method to reduce the chs expression. A binary vector with chs inverted repeat under the control of the gentian chs promoter was constructed and used to study potential utility of RNAi in gentian. Compared with antisense strategy, RNAi-inducing construct changed the flower color more frequently, but its suppression was not enough and in most cases caused faint blue flowers. When the individuals with flower colors ranging from white to faint blue were analyzed, the relationship between accumulation of anthocyanin and suppression of flower color was observed and northern analyses indicated the flower color-dependent reduction of the endogenous chs.
