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

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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.