Open Access464 The Biochemical Basis for Purple, Blue and Red Flower Colors in Calibrachoa LaLlave & Lexarza
Author(s) -
Robert J. Griesbach,
Rebeccah A. Waterworth
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
hortscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.518
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 2327-9834
pISSN - 0018-5345
DOI - 10.21273/hortsci.35.3.474a
Subject(s) - cultivar , anthocyanin , botany , biology , pigment , significant difference , horticulture , chemistry , statistics , mathematics , organic chemistry
Recently, several new Calibrachoa La Llave & Lexarza cultivars have been developed with novel red and blue flowers. Most of the wild species of Calibrachoa have purple flowers. The difference in color between the red, blue, and purple flowers was not due to anthocyanin composition but to vacuolar pH. The pH of the red flowered cultivar was 4.8, while that of the blue flowered cultivar was 5.6. The wild purple flower species had an intermediate pH of 5.0. The difference in pH was genetically inherited.