A glowing success in floriculture
In a crowded market place a new product must be exceptional to be noticed,
and from Singapore has come an orchid that is hard to overlook, since it glows
in the dark. 
Orchids
(Dendrobium) are dramatic flowers with shapes that mimic a variety of organisms
including bees, wasps and spiders, but the new orchid has the unique characteristic
of bioluminescence.
The world's first and, so far, only bioluminescent flower has been developed by genetic modification using a gene from fireflies. Using a technique called 'particle bombardment', Professor Chia Tet Fatt of Singapore's National Institute of Education (NIE) has successfully transferred the firefly gene luciferase into orchid tissue. Transformed tissue was then propagated to generate the transgenic plants which produce constant light, visible to the human eye, for up to five hours. The intensity of light produced from different parts of the plants varies, however, ranging from 5,000 to 30,000 photons per second.
Unlike fluorescence, where energy is stored and re-emitted as light energy, the bioluminescent plants use their own energy to create light, and radiate a greenish-white glow from all parts of the orchid, including roots, stem, leaves and petals. The development process has taken nine years and Prof. Chia has responded to the Singapore government's 'technopreneurship' initiative by teaming up with a start-up company to create novel business opportunities for this original orchid.
The world demand for orchids has grown and genetic transformation can help supplement traditional breeding techniques to create orchids with desirable market traits such as novel colours, longer shelf life and increased pest and disease resistance. Predictions are that the new orchid could increase the value of Singapore's orchid production by as much as five per cent over the next five years, up from the current S$25 million per year. While other flower breeders follow his developments with keen interest, Pro.Chia believes that the research will have wider benefits. "This breakthrough will help further boost Singapore's reputation as the Life Sciences hub in Asia", he has said.
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| credit: S Lamseejan |
Meanwhile, in Thailand, the Asian country perhaps most often associated with orchids through its national airline's custom of presenting every passenger with an orchid, a range of new mutants of several popular flower species have been developed using nuclear technology. At Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Professor Siranut Lamseejan has led a team that has developed some 90 mutants of chrysanthemum alone. "We have a very big market for chrysanthemums in Thailand and currently we have to import from other countries," says Prof. Lamseejan. "So, we want to develop new varieties to satisfy our own market, even before we export." Using the technique of radiation-induced mutation, they can change the shape, size and colour of flowers. But, before release onto the market, Prof. Lamseejan invites growers and florists to inspect plots of all new cultivars to advise which, in their professional opinion, have market appeal. "I may think a flower is beautiful," says Prof. Lamseejan, "but if the growers and florists don't thinks it will sell, we reject it." Currently, four leading cultivars of chrysanthemum are being tested for market acceptance.
The Gamma Radiation and Nuclear Technology Center at Kasetsart, where this work has been done, has received valuable guidance and technical assistance under a Technical Cooperation Project of the FAO-IAEA Joint Division, based at International Atomic Energy Agency headquarters in Vienna. In turn, the Center at Kasetsart has been able to share its experience with visitors form China, Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam.
Work has also been initiated on roses, anthuriums and orchids, of which there are over 1,000 species in Thailand. Prof. Siranut Lamseejan's team has also produced mutants of portulaca, by irradiation of stem cuttings, and curcuma and canna lily, by irradiation of rhizomes. Canna lilies are a popular ornamental plant grown widely in Thailand, and Prof Lamseejan's work has been marked by the naming of an outstanding new canna variety, 'Orange Siranut'.
