Biotechnological approaches to breeding and cultivation of ornamental crop plants

Recent advances in plant biotechnology hold great potential for the ornamental horticulture industry. In addition to conventional methods, breeders can now introduce genetic variation into ornamentals by the application of recombinant DNA technology. This technology is particularly useful for effecting changes in phenotypic expression encoded by single genes such as corolla and foliage color and texture, stem length, scent, temporal regulation of flowering, vase life of cut flowers and resistance to stressful environments. In part, the commercial success of this technology will depend on developing reliable methods of transformation of ornamentals and on the stability of the introduced or altered genes. In addition, new and improved strategies of in vitro culture have been commercially implemented for the propagation and breeding of a wide variety of ornamental crops and will undoubtedly play a major role in the screening and propagation of chimeric plants developed by recombinant DNA technology.