Cost effective, environmentally- and health-friendly production of poinsettia with improved ornamental value

Popular science presentation - results and activities during the whole project period (January 2010 - June 2014) Background: Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) is a non-food and non-feed ornamental plant and also a contemporary symbol of Christmas in most parts of the world. In Norway, poinsettia is by far the largest pot plant culture with about 5 million plants sold during the Christmas period with a market value of approximate 200 million NOK. Appropriate plant height is one of the most important t raits which is normally achieved by application of chemical growth retardants. Concern about the negative impact of these compounds on human health due to toxicity and possible carcinogenic effects, as well as negative effects on the environment; have lim ited their availability and use. A cost-effective, environmentally and health-friendly alternative for control poinsettia plant height is definitely needed. Objectives: the main objectives are (i) to develop a cost effective, environmentally-and health -friendly poinsettia production system by genetic engineering to reduce the application of hazard chemicals in poinsettia production, (ii) to develop a sustainable collaboration with Norwegian poinsettia industry and (iii) capacity building to educate PhD and master students. Results: We have over the past four years completed our objectives and also developed a long-term good collaboration with consortium partners from academia and poinsettia industry in Norway and Denmark. The project team has thus fulfilled its objectives and generated results ranging from methodology development, genetic engineered poinsettia plants expressing desirable genes, scientific publications, book chapter, reports, invited talks and oral presentations at conferences, and posters, to a PhD and a master degrees, and a Danish- funded poinsettia project as a positive spin-off effect. We have followed our objectives and carried out the defined project activities and milestones. During the whole project period, the project team has produced 33 publications totally as shown in the publication list. Spin-off effect and impact: This project has generated several spin-off effects: (1) We have, through the project?s period, strengthened our national and international collaborati ons and built up a good network, especially with industrial partners. Those collaborators are of importance for the future innovation-based projects and product development. (2) Another positive spin-off of this project is that we have received a Danish ( University of Copenhagen) funded project on production of transgenic poinsettia expressing a desirable gene (details described in our 4-page final report attached and our publication (PLoS ONE 8(1): e53377. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0053377) because of our competence in poinsettia research. (3) Project manager, Dr Jihong Liu Clarke, was invited to contribute to a ?protocol book series? in Kan Wang ed. Methods in Molecular Biology, Springer due to our expertise on genetic engineering of poinsettia. (4) A ne w proposal on production of bio-insecticides by using anti-microbe compounds produced in poinsettia is under development. This forthcoming proposal is another positive spin-off of this project. In summary, this project has paved the road for the susta inable development of a Norwegian poinsettia research and innovation platform which facilitates the future research and product development.

Poinsettia, a non-food, non-feed ornamental plant, is by far the largest pot plant culture in Norway, with about 6 million plants sold yearly during the Christmas period. Thus, the economic value and innovation potential of poinsettia is considerable. App ropriate plant height is one of the most important traits in poinsettia production. Today, the spraying of chemical growth retardants that inhibit gibberellin (GA) biosynthesis in order to control plant height is the dominant method for poinsettia product ion in Norway. Concern about the negative impact of these compounds on human health due to toxicity and possible carcinogenic effects, as well as negative effects on the environment, have limited their availability and use. Economically, estimated costs o f growth retardants in Norway are at least 4-5 million NOK (2006) in addition to labour costs. Consequently, there is an ongoing discussion about the need to further reduce the use of such compounds. None of the current alternative methods can replace the use of growth retardants to induce dwarfism in poinsettia, and the energy demand is extremely high. Thus, we propose a cost-effective, environmentally and health-friendly alternative by genetic engineering of the GA biosynthesis pathway. Moreover, abscis sion, the natural event that involves cell separation in response to developmental or environmental cues, is a problem in poinsettia production and sales. Abscission of cyathia in poinsettia reduces the sales value. To inhibit abscission, we attempt to tr ansform poinsettia with INFLORESCENCE DEFICIENT IN ABSCISSION (IDA) gene. We will also consider to use gene stacking method to improve both traits in poinsettia in the current project, which is of interest to the industry. This is a collaborative project with the Norwegian poinsettia industry as well as national and international partners. The project takes economy, environment and health into account and the project dissemination including end-users is considered.