Inheritance and QTL analysis of the determinants of flower color in tetraploid cut roses

The success of cut rose cultivars is a direct result of their aesthetic value. The rose industry thrives on novelty, and the production of novel flower color has been extensively studied. The most popular color is red, and it is, therefore, important for breeders to produce a good red cultivar. The final visible color of the flower is a combination of a number of factors including the type of anthocyanin accumulating, modifications to the anthocyanidin molecule, co-pigmentation and vacuolar pH. Here, we analyze the quantitative variation of the biochemical constituents of flower color in a tetraploid rose population and combine this with marker information in the segregating rose population to map the chromosomal locations of putative QTLs for flower color traits. Within our tetraploid population, we found a number of QTLs that were mapped on ICM 1, 2, 6 and 7. We were able to show the effect of the different QTLs on the final visible color of the flower from salmon to dark red.