A professor here
at OSU has made a significant breakthrough in the field of
biotechnology by inserting light sensing genes into
chrysanthemums in order to regulate the growth. Since he
knew that red light inhibits stem growth , he took a gene
out of a tobacco plant that had already been mapped for
sensing read
light. He used the tobacco gene because it was easily
available and understood.
He then had the choice of how he was going to insert the gene into the Chrysanthemum. A gene gun could be used which is basically like shooting a shotgun full of genes into a plant.
Instead he chose
to use an agrobacterium . The agrobacterium occurs in nature
and seemed to be the most efficient means of gene transfer
in this particular case. The infection successfully
transferred the red light sensing gene called phytochrome B
into the chrysanthemums. The end result was the plants were
15-20 percent shorter , and they even produced more
chlorophyll than
normal. One more benefit was the flowers lasted 10-14 days
longer on average before they fell off. In the end the
plants were shorter , greener , and had longer lasting
flowers than normal. Maybe the grass really is greener on
the other side!