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Background  The  R2R3 - MYB  genes regulate pigmentation and morphogenesis of flowers, including flower and cell shape, and therefore have importance in the development of new varieties of orchids. However, new variety development is limited by the long breeding time required in orchids. In this study, we identified a cDNA,  DhMYB1 , that is expressed during flower development in a hybrid orchid,  Dendrobium hybrida  ( Dendrobium  bobby messina X  Dendrobium  chao phraya) then used the direct application of dsRNA to observe the effect of gene silencing on flower phenotype and floral epidermal cell shape.    Results  Flower bud development in the  Dendrobium  hybrid was characterised into seven stages and the time of meiosis was determined as between stages 3 to 5 when the bud is approximately half of the mature size. Scanning electron microscopy characterisation of adaxial epidermal cells of the flower perianth, showed that the petals and sepals each are divided into two distinct domains based on cell shape and size, while the labellum comprises seven domains. Thirty-two partial cDNA fragments representing  R2R3-MYB  gene sequences were isolated from  D. hybrida . Phylogenetic analysis revealed that nine of the translated sequences were clustered with MYB sequences that are known to be involved in cell shape development and from these, DhMYB1 was selected for full length cDNA cloning and functional study. Direct application of a 430 bp dsRNA from the 3’ region of  DhMYB1  to emerging orchid flower buds reduced expression of  DhMYB1  RNA compared with untreated control. Scanning electron microscopy of adaxial epidermal cells within domain one of the labellum of flowers treated with  DhMYB1  dsRNA showed flattened epidermal cells whilst those of control flowers were conical.    Conclusions   DhMYB1  is expressed throughout flower bud development and is involved in the development of the conical cell shape of the epidermal cells of the  Dendrobium  hybrida flower labellum. The direct application of dsRNA changed the phenotype of floral cells, thus, this technique may have application in floriculture biotechnology.    Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12870-015-0577-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

dsRNA silencing of an R2R3-MYB transcription factor affects flower cell shape in a Dendrobium hybrid