WO1994003606A1 - Genetic sequences encoding flavonol synthase enzymes and uses therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates generally to genetic sequences encoding flavonoid pathway metabolising enzymes and in particular enzymes having flavonol synthase activity and their use such as in manipulating production of pigmentory molecules in plants. More particularly, the present invention provides genetic sequences encoding flavonol synthase (FLS).

Description

GENETIC SEQUENCES ENCODING FLAVONOL SYNTHASE ENZYMES AND USES THEREFOR

The present invention relates generally to genetic sequences encoding flavonoid metabolising enzymes and in particular enzymes having flavonol synthase activity and their use such as in manipulating production of pigmentory molecules in plants.

Bibliographic details of the publications referred to hereinafter in the specification are collected at the end of the description. SEQ ID No's referred to herein in relation to nucleotide and amino acid sequences are defined after the Bibliography.

The flower industry strives to develop new and different varieties of flowering plants. An effective way to create such novel varieties is through the manipulation of flower colour and classical breeding techniques have been used with some success to produce a wide range of colours for most of the commercial varieties of flowers. This approach has been limited, however, by the constraints of a particular species' gene pool and for this reason it is rare for a single species to have a full spectrum of coloured varieties. For example, the development of blue varieties of the major cut flower species such as rose, chrysanthemum, carnation, lily, tulip and gerbera would offer a significant opportunity in both the cut flower and ornamental markets.

The colours of flowers and other plant parts are predominantly due to two types of pigments: flavonoids and carotenoids. Flavonoids are the most common and the most important of the flower pigments. The most important classes of flavonoids with respect to flower colour are anthocyanins, flavonols and flavones. Anthocyanins are glycosylated derivatives of cyanidin, delphinidin, petunidin, peonidin, malvidin and pelargonidin, and are localised in the vacuole.

One important factor for flower colour is co-pigmentation of anthocyanins with tannins and certain flavone and flavonol glycosides (Scott-Moncrieff, 1936). When compared over a range of pH values, co-pigmented anthocyanins are always found to be bluer than the normal pigment. Co-pigmentation of anthocyanins with flavonol glycosides can also be important for the development of colour in fruit (Yoshitama et al., 1992). The molar ratio of anthocyanin to co-pigment can also exert a strong influence on colour. It has recently been demonstrated that flavonol aglycones are essential for pollen germination and pollen tube growth (Mo et al., 1992). The ability to control the production of co-pigments, such as flavonols, in plants could therefore have useful applications in altering flower colour and manipulating plant fertility.

The biosynthetic pathway for the anthocyanin pigments is well established (Ebel and Hahlbrock, 1988; Hahlbrock and Grisebach, 1979; Wiering and de Vlaming, 1984; Schram et al., 1984; Stafford, 1990). The first committed step in the pathway involves the condensation of three molecules of malonyl-CoA with one molecule of p-coumaroyl-CoA. This reaction is catalysed by the enzyme chalcone synthase. The product of this reaction, 2',4,4',6'-tetrahydroxychalcone, is normally rapidly isomerised to produce naringenin by the enzyme chalcone-flavanone isomerase. Naringenin is subsequently hydroxylated at the 3 position of the central ring by flavanone 3-hydroxylase to produce dihydrokaempferol (DHK). The B-ring of dihydrokaempferol can be hydroxylated at either the 3', or both the 3' and 5' positions, to produce dihydroquercetin (DHQ) and dihydromyricetin (DHM), respectively. DHK, DHQ and DHM may be converted to coloured anthocyanins (pelargonidin 3-glucoside, cyanidin 3-glucoside and delphinidin 3-glucoside) by the action of at least two enzymes (dihydroflavonol-4-reductase and flavonoid- 3-glucosyltransferase).

Flavonols such as kaempferol (K), quercetin (Q) and myricetin (M) are formed from dihydroflavonols by the introduction of a double bond between C-2 and C-3 (Forkmann, 1991), as illustrated in Figure 1. Flavonols often accumulate in glycosylated forms and may also be methylated. Methylation can occur either before or after glycosylation. In vitro conversion of dihydroflavonols to flavonols was first observed in enzyme preparations from parsley cell cultures (Britsch et al., 1981). Flavonol synthase activity has also been detected in flower extracts from Matthiola (Spribille and Forkmann, 1984), Petunia (Forkmann et al., 1986) and Dianthus

(Forkmann, 1991). Flavonol synthase enzyme activity requires 2-oxoglutarate, ascorbate and ferrous ions as cofactors. In flowers of Petunia hybrida, the genetic locus Fl controls the formation of flavonols: flavonol synthesis is greatly reduced in mutants homozygous recessive for this gene (Wiering et al, 1979; Forkmann et al, 1986). In vitro enzyme assays with the flavonol synthase from petunia showed that

DHK and DHQ were readily converted to the respective flavonols, whereas DHM was a poor substrate. The ability to control flavonol synthase activity in flowering plants would provide a means to manipulate petal colour by altering flavonol production, thereby enabling a single species to express a broader spectrum of flower colours. As stated above, the ability to control flavonol production also has implications in respect of male fertility. Such control may be by modulating the level of production of an indigenous enzyme or by introducing a non-indigenous enzyme. As used herein an "indigenous" enzyme is one which is native to or naturally expressed in a particular cell. A "non-indigenous" enzyme is an enzyme not native to the cell but expressed through the introduction of genetic material into a plant cell; for example, through a transgene. An "endogenous" enzyme is an enzyme produced by a cell but which may or may not be indigenous to that cell.

In accordance with the present invention, the genetic sequences encoding flavonol synthase (hereinafter referred to as "FLS") have been identified and cloned from a number of sources and used to generate transgenic plants. These recombinant sequences permit the modulation of levels of flavonol production thereby providing a means to manipulate petal colour and male fertility. The recombinant sequences also permit the modulation of DHK metabolism as well as the metabolism of other substrates, such as DHQ and DHM. Since DHK, DHQ and DHM are precursors of the coloured anthocyanins modulation of their concentrations by expression of FLS sequences provides another means of manipulating flower colour.

Accordingly, one aspect of the present invention provides an isolated nucleic acid molecule comprising a sequence of nucleotides encoding, or complementary to a sequence encoding a plant FLS or a functional mutant, derivative, part, fragment, homologue or analogue of said FLS. The expression "FLS" includes reference to polypeptides and proteins having FLS activity as well as any mutants, derivatives, parts, fragments, homologues or analogues of such polypeptides or proteins and which have FLS activity. A molecule having FLS activity may also be a fusion polypeptide or protein between a polypeptide or protein having FLS activity and an extraneous peptide, polypeptide or protein.

As used herein, the term "isolated nucleic acid molecule" is meant to include a genetic sequence in a non-naturally-occurring condition. Generally, this means isolated away from its natural state or formed by procedures not necessarily encountered in its natural environment. More specifically, it includes nucleic acid molecules formed or maintained in vitro, including genomic DNA fragments, recombinant or synthetic molecules and nucleic acids in combination with heterolcgous nucleic acids such as heterologous nucleic acids fused or operably-linked to the genetic sequences of the present invention. The term "isolated nucleic acid molecule" also extends to the genomic DNA or cDNA, or part thereof encoding FLS or a functional mutant, derivative, part, fragment, homologue or analogue of FLS, in reverse orientation relative to its or another promoter. It further extends to naturally-occurring sequences following at least a partial purification relative to other nucleic acid sequences. The term "isolated nucleic acid molecule" as used herein is understood to have the same meaning as a "nucleic acid isolate".

The expression "genetic sequences" is used herein in its most general sense and encompasses any contiguous series of nucleotide bases specifying directly, or via a complementary series of bases, a sequence of amino acids comprising a FLS molecule including a polypeptide or protein having FLS activity. Such a sequence of amino acids may constitute a full-length FLS such as is set forth in, for example, SEQ ID

No:1 or SEQ ID No:4 or SEQ ID No:5 or an active truncated form thereof or a functional mutant, derivative, part, fragment, homologue or analogue thereof. Alternatively, the amino acid sequence may comprise part of, for example, these sequences or all or part of the sequences set forth in SEQ ID No:2 or SEQ ID No:3.

Another aspect of the present invention provides an isolated nucleic acid molecule comprising a sequence of nucleotides which:

(i) encodes a FLS; and

(ii) has at least 50% nucleotide sequence similarity to the nucleotide sequence set forth in at least one of SEQ ID No: 1 or SEQ ID No:2 or SEQ ID No:3 or SEQ ID

No:4 or SEQ ID No:5.

More particularly, the present invention is directed to an isolated DNA molecule comprising a sequence of nucleotides which:

(i) encodes a FLS; and

(ii) has at least 65-75% nucleotide sequence similarity to the nucleotide sequence set forth in at least one of SEQ ID No: 1 or SEQ ID No:2 or SEQ ID No:3 or SEQ ID No:4 or SEQ ID No:5. Preferred percentage similarities include 80%, 85%, 90%, 92-95%, 96-98% and 99- 100%. Although the pecentage similarities referred to above assume an overall comparison between the sequences set forth in at least one of SEQ ID No: 1 or SEQ ID No:2 or SEQ ID No:3 or SEQ ID No:4 or SEQ ID No:5 and another genetic sequence, it is clear that there may be specific regions within the molecules being compared having less than 50% similarity. In this respect, the present invention is further defined as a nucleic acid molecule, and in particular a DNA molecule, comprising a sequence of nucleotides which: (i) encodes a FLS; and

(ii) has at least 50-75% nucleotide sequence similarity to one or more regions of the sequence set forth in at least one of SEQ ID No:1 or SEQ ID No:2 or SEQ ID

No:3 or SEQ ID No:4 or SEQ ID No:5.

The nucleic acid sequences contemplated herein also encompass oligonucleotides useful as genetic probes or as "antisense" molecules capable of regulating expression of the corresponding gene in a plant. An "antisense molecule" as used herein may also encompass a gene construct comprising the structural genomic or cDNA gene or part thereof in reverse orientation relative to its or another promoter.

With respect to this aspect of the invention there is provided an oligonucleotide of 5-50 nucleotides having substantial similarity or complementarity to a part or region of a molecule with a nucleotide sequence set forth in at least one of SEQ ID No:1 or SEQ ID No:2 or SEQ ID No:3 or SEQ ID No:4 or SEQ ID No:5. By "substantial similarity or complementarity" in this context is meant a hybridizable similarity under low, alternatively and preferably medium and alternatively and most preferably high stringency conditions, as defined below. Such an oligonucleotide is useful, for example, in screening FLS genetic sequences from various sources or for monitoring an introduced genetic sequence in a transgenic plant. Such an oligonucleotide is generally in the form of a primer or a probe. Preferably, the oligonucleotide is directed to a conserved FLS genetic sequence or a sequence conserved within a plant genus, plant species and/or plant strain or variety. In one aspect of the present invention, the oligonucleotide corresponds to the 5' or the

3' end of the FLS genetic sequence. For convenience, the 5' end is considered herein to define a region substantially between the start codon of the structural gene to a centre portion of the gene, and the 3' end is considered herein to define a region substantially between the centre portion of the gene and the terminating codon of the structural gene. It is clear, therefore, that oligonucleotides may hybridize to the 5' end or the 3' end or to a region common to both the 5' and the 3' ends. The present invention extends to all such oligonucleotides.

In one embodiment, the nucleic acid sequence encoding a FLS or a functional mutant, derivative, part, fragment, homologue or analogue thereof is used to reduce the activity of an indigenous FLS, such as by using co-suppression (US Patent Number

5,034,323). Alternatively, the nucleic acid sequence encoding this enzyme or various functional mutants, derivatives, parts, fragments, homologues or analogues thereof, is used in the antisense orientation to reduce activity of the indigenous FLS. Although not wishing to limit the present invention to any one theory, it is possible that an antisense FLS transcript or fragment or part thereof (for example, an oligonucleotide m olecule) would form a duplex with all or part of the naturally-occurring mRNA specified for the enzyme thus preventing accumulation of or translation from the mRNA into active enzyme.

In another alternative, ribozymes could be used to inactivate target nucleic acid sequences. Ribozymes are well described by Haseloff and Gerlach (1988). With respect to this embodiment, the ribozyme would preferably comprise a hybridizing portion and a catalytic portion wherein the hybridizing portion comprises one and preferably two nucleotide arms capable of hybridizing to a mRNA transcript from a gene having a nucleotide sequence substantially as set forth in at least one of SEQ ID No: 1 or SEQ ID No:2 or SEQ ID No:3 or SEQ ID No:4 or SEQ ID No:5.

In a further embodiment, the nucleic acid sequence encoding a FLS or a functional mutant, derivative, part, fragment, homologue or analogue thereof is used to elevate the activity of an indigenous FLS above the normal endogenous or existing level, or alternatively to provide FLS activity where the normal endogenous or existing level of activity is negligible or zero.

Reference herein to the altering of FLS activity relates to an elevation or reduction in activity of 30% or more, or more preferably of 30-50%, or even more preferably 50-75% or still more preferably 75% or greater above or below the normal endogenous or existing levels of activity. Such elevation or reduction may be referred to as "modulation" of FLS enzyme activity. Generally, modulation is at the level of transcription or translation of FLS genetic sequences. The level of activity can be assayed using a modified method of Forkmann et al. (1986).

The nucleic acids of the present invention may be ribonucleic acids or deoxyribonucleic acids, single stranded or covalently closed circular molecules. Preferably, the nucleic acid molecule is, or originates from, cDNA. The present invention also extends to other nucleic acid molecules which hybridize to the genetic sequences herein disclosed. According to this aspect of the present invention there is provided an isolated nucleic acid molecule comprising a sequence of nucleotides which:

(i) encodes a FLS; and

(ii) hybridizes to the nucleotide sequence set forth in at least one of SEQ ID No: 1 or SEQ ID No:2 or SEQ ID No:3 or SEQ ID No:4 or SEQ ID No:5 or a complementary respective form thereof under low stringency conditions.

For the purpose of defining the level of stringency, reference can conveniently be made to Maniatis et al. (1982) at pages 387-389, and especially paragraph 11, which is herein incorporated by reference. A low stringency is defined herein as being in 4-6 × SSC / 1% (w/v) SDS at 37-45°C for 2-3 hours. Depending on the source and concentration of nucleic acid involved in the hybridization, alternative conditions of stringency may be employed such as medium stringent conditions which are considered herein to be 1-4 × SSC / 0.5-1% (w/v) SDS at greater than or equal to 45°C for 2-3 hours or high stringent conditions considered herein to be 0.1-1 x SSC / 0.1- 1.0% (w/v) SDS at greater than or equal to 60°C for 1-3 hours.

In its most preferred embodiment, the present invention extends to a nucleic acid molecule having or comprising a nucleotide sequence set forth in at least one of SEQ ID No:1 or SEQ ID No:2 or SEQ ID No:3 or SEQ ID No:4 or SEQ ID No:5 or to a molecule having at least 50%, more preferably at least 55%, even more preferably at least 60%, still more preferably at least 65-70%, and yet even more preferably greater than 85% similarity at the level of nucleotide or amino acid sequence to at least one or more regions of the nucleotide or amino acid sequence set forth, respectively, in the above-referenced sequences and wherein the nucleic acid encodes or is complementary to a sequence which encodes an enzyme having FLS activity. It should be noted, however, that nucleotide or amino acid sequences may have similarities below the above given percentages and yet still encode a FLS-like molecule and such molecules may still be considered within the scope of the present invention where they have regions of sequence conservation.

The nucleic acid molecules contemplated herein may exist, in either orientation, alone or in combination with a vector molecule and preferably an expression-vector. The term "vector molecule" is used in its broadest sense to include any intermediate vehicle for the nucleic acid molecule, capable of facilitating transfer of the nucleic acid into the plant cell and/or facilitating integration into the plant genome. An intermediate vehicle may, for example, be adapted for use in electroporation, microprojectile bombardment, Agrobacterium-mediated transfer or insertion via DNA or RNA viruses. The intermediate vehicle and/or the nucleic acid molecule contained therein may or may not need to be stably integrated into the plant genome. Such vector molecules may also replicate and/or express in prokaryotic cells. Preferably, the vector molecules or parts thereof are capable of integration into the plant genome. The nucleic acid molecule may additionally contain a promoter sequence capable of directing expression of the nucleic acid molecule in a plant cell. The nucleic acid molecule and promoter may also be introduced into the cell by any number of means such as those described above. The vector molecule may also comprise a genetic sequence encoding a ribozyme as hereinbefore defined capable of cleaving a FLS mRNA transcript

The nucleic acid or its complementary form may encode the full-length enzyme or a derivative thereof. By "derivative" is meant any single or multiple amino acid substitutions, deletions, and/or additions relative to the naturally-occurring enzyme and which retains FLS activity. In this regard, the nucleic acid includes the naturally-occurring nucleotide sequence encoding FLS or may contain single or multiple nucleotide substitutions, deletions and/or additions to said naturally-occurring sequence. The nucleic acid sequences of the present invention or its complementary form may also encode a "part" of a FLS, whether active or inactive, and such a nucleic acid molecule may be useful as an oligonucleotide probe, primer for polymerase chain reactions or in various mutagenic techniques, or for the generation of antisense molecules or ribozyme molecules capable of regulating expression of the corresponding gene in a plant.

Amino acid insertional derivatives of the FLS of the present invention include amino and/or carboxyl terminal fusions as well as intra-sequence insertions of single or multiple amino acids. Insertional amino acid sequence variants are those in which one or more amino acid residues are introduced into a predetermined site in the protein although random insertion is also possible with suitable screening of the resulting product. Deletional variants are characterised by the removal of one or more amino acids from the sequence. Substitutional amino acid variants are those in which at least one residue in the sequence has been removed and a different residue inserted in its place. Typical substitutions are those made in accordance with Table 1, overleaf.

Where FLS is derivatised by amino acid substitution, the amino acids are generally replaced by other amino acids having like properties, such as hydrophobicity, hydrophilicity, electronegativity, bulky side chains and the like. Amino acid substitutions are typically of single residues. Amino acid insertions will usually be in the order of about 1-10 amino acid residues and deletions will range from about 1-20 residues. Preferably, deletions or insertions are made in adjacent pairs, i.e. a deletion of two residues or insertion of two residues.

TABLE 1

Suitable residues for amino acid substitutions

Original Residue Exemplary Substitutions

Ala Ser

Arg Lys

Asn Gln; His

Asp Glu

Cys Ser

Gln Asn; Glu

Glu Asp

Gly Pro

His Asn; Gln

Ile Leu; Val

Leu Ile; Val

Lys Arg; Gln; Glu

Met Leu; lie; Val

Phe Met; Leu; Tyr

Ser Thr

Thr Ser

Trp Tyr

Tyr Trp; Phe

Val Ile; Leu; Met

The amino acid variants referred to above may readily be made using peptide synthetic techniques well known in the art, such as solid phase peptide synthesis (Merrifield, 1964) and the like, or by recombinant DΝA manipulations. Techniques for making substitution mutations at predetermined sites in DΝA having known or partially known sequence are well known and include, for example, M13 mutagenesis. The manipulation of DNA sequence to produce variant proteins which manifest as substitutional, insertional or deletional variants are conveniently described, for example, in Sambrook et al. (1989). Other examples of recombinant or synthetic mutants and derivatives of the FLS enzyme of the present invention include single or multiple substitutions, deletions and/or additions of any molecule associated with the enzyme such as carbohydrates, lipids and/or proteins or polypeptides. The terms "analogues" and "derivatives" also extend to any functional chemical equivalent of FLS and also to any amino acid derivative described above. For convenience, reference to "FLS" herein and in particular hereinafter includes reference to any functional mutant, derivative, part, fragment, homologue or analogue thereof. The present invention is exemplified using nucleic acid sequences derived from petunia, tobacco, carnation and chrysanthemum, since these represent the most convenient and preferred sources of material to date. However, one skilled in the art will immediately appreciate that similar sequences can be isolated from any number of sources such as other plants. All such nucleic acid sequences encoding directly or indirectly FLS are encompassed by the present invention regardless of their source.

Examples of other suitable sources of genes encoding FLS enzymes include, but are not limited to rose, snapdragon, lisianthus, cyclamen, grape and parsley.

In accordance with the present invention, a nucleic acid sequence encoding a FLS may be introduced into and expressed in a transgenic plant in either orientation thereby providing a means to convert DHK and/or other suitable substrates, if synthesised in the plant cell, ultimately into flavonols or derivatives of same or alternatively to inhibit such conversion of metabolites by reducing or eliminating endogenous or existing FLS activity. The production of these flavonols will modify petal colour and may contribute to the production of bluer colours via co-pigmentation with anthocyanins. Expression of the nucleic acid sequence in the plant may be constitutive, inducible or developmental and may also be tissue-specific. The term "expression" is used in its broadest sense to include production of RNA or of both RNA and protein. It also extends to partial expression of a nucleic acid molecule.

According to this aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for producing a transgenic flowering plant capable of synthesizing FLS, said method comprising stably transforming a cell of a suitable plant with a nucleic acid sequence which comprises a sequence of nucleotides encoding said FLS under conditions permitting the eventual expression of said nucleic acid sequence, regenerating a transgenic plant from the cell and growing said transgenic plant for a time and under conditions sufficient to permit the expression of the nucleic acid sequence. The transgenic plant may thereby produce non-indigenous FLS at elevated levels relative to the amount expressed in a comparable non-transgenic plant

Another aspect of the present invention contemplates a method for producing a transgenic plant with reduced indigenous or existing FLS activity, said method comprising stably transforming a cell of a suitable plant with a nucleic acid molecule which comprises a sequence of nucleotides encoding or complementary to a sequence encoding a FLS activity, regenerating a transgenic plant from the cell and where necessary growing said transgenic plant under conditions sufficient to permit the expression of the nucleic acid.

Yet another aspect of the present invention contemplates a method for producing a genetically modified plant with reduced indigenous or existing FLS activity, said method comprising altering the Fl gene through modification of the indigenous sequences via homologous recombination from an appropriately altered Fl gene or derivative or part thereof introduced into the plant cell, and regenerating the genetically modified plant from the cell.

In a preferred embodiment, the present invention contemplates a method for producing a transgenic flowering plant exhibiting altered inflorescence properties, said method comprising stably transforming a cell of a suitable plant with a nucleic acid sequence of the present invention, regenerating a transgenic plant from the cell and growing said transgenic plant for a time and under conditions sufficient to permit the expression of the nucleic acid sequence into a FLS. Alternatively, said method may comprise stably transforming a cell of a suitable plant with a nucleic acid sequence of the present invention or its complementary sequence, regenerating a transgenic plant from the cell and growing said transgenic plant for a time and under conditions sufficient to alter the level of activity of the indigenous or existing FLS. Preferably the altered level would be less than the indigenous or existing level of FLS activity in a comparable non-transgenic plant Without wishing to limit the present invention, one theory of mode of action is that reduction of the indigenous FLS activity requires the expression of the introduced nucleic acid sequence or its complementary sequence. However, expression of the introduced genetic sequence or its complement may not be required to achieve the desired effect: namely, a flowering plant exhibiting altered inflorescence properties. In a related embodiment the present invention contemplates a method for producing a flowering plant exhibiting altered inflorescence properties, said method comprising alteration of the Fl gene through modification of the indigenous sequences via homologous recombination from an appropriately altered Fl gene or derivative or part thereof introduced into the plant cell, and regenerating the genetically modified plant from the cell.

Preferably, the altered inflorescence includes the production of white, yellow, pink, violet or blue flowers or other colour shades depending on the genotype and physiological conditions of the recipient plant.

Accordingly, the present invention extends to a method for producing a transgenic plant capable of expressing a recombinant gene encoding a FLS or which carries a nucleic acid sequence which is substantially complementary to all or a part of a mRNA molecule optionally transcribable where required to effect regulation of a FLS, said method comprising stably transforming a cell of a suitable plant with the isolated nucleic acid molecule comprising a sequence of nucleotides encoding, or complementary to a sequence encoding, a FLS, where necessary under conditions permitting the eventual expression of said isolated nucleic acid molecule, and regenerating a transgenic plant from the cell. By "suitable plant" is meant a plant capable of producing DHK, or other substrates of FLS, and possessing the appropriate physiological properties required for the development of the colour desired.

The present invention is exemplified by generation of transgenic petunia and tobacco plants containing introduced FLS genetic sequences. The use of petunia and tobacco plants represents a particularly convenient and useful model for the generation of transgenic plants carrying genetic sequences and the results obtained from such transgenic plants are generally applicable to other plants. One skilled in the art will immediately recognise the variations applicable to this method such as increasing or decreasing the expression of the enzyme naturally present in a target plant. This would lead to differing shades of colours. Other suitable target plants, in addition to petunia and tobacco, include but are not limited to rose, carnation, chrysanthemum, gerbera, lisianthus, lily, iris and pelargonium. The present invention, therefore, extends to all transgenic plants containing all or part of the nucleic acid sequence of the present invention, or antisense forms thereof and/or any homologues or related forms thereof and in particular those transgenic plants which exhibit altered inflorescence properties. The transgenic plants may contain an introduced nucleic acid molecule comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding or complementary to a sequence encoding a FLS. Generally the nucleic acid would be stably introduced into the plant genome, although the present invention also extends to the introduction of a FLS nucleotide sequence within an autonomously-replicating nucleic acid sequence such as a DNA or RNA virus capable of replicating within the plant cell. The invention also extends to seeds from such transgenic plants. Such seeds, especially if coloured, will be useful, inter alia, as proprietary tags for plants. The invention further extends to fruit and to vegetable plants and leaves of, for example, ornamental plants.

Another aspect of the present invention is directed to recombinant forms of FLS. The recombinant forms of the enzymes will provide a source of material for research to develop, for example, more active enzymes and may be useful in developing in vitro systems for production of flavonols and/or coloured compounds.

Still a further aspect of the present invention contemplates the use of the genetic sequences described herein in the manufacture of a genetic construct capable of expressing a FLS or down-regulating an indigenous FLS enzyme in a plant. Another aspect of the present invention is directed to a prokaryotic or eukaryotic organism carrying a genetic sequence encoding a FLS extrachromasomally in plasmid form. In one embodiment, the plasmid is pCGP481 in Escherichia coli. The microorganism Escherichia coli strain DH5α containing the plasmid pCGP481 was deposited with the Australian Government Analytical Laboratories, 1 Suakin Street, Pymble, New South Wales, 2037, Australia on August 5, 1993 under Accession

Number N93/33236.

The present invention is further described by reference to the following non-limiting Figures and Examples.

The amino acid abbreviations used throughout the specification, including in the Examples, are shown overleaf in Table 2. TABLE 2

Amino acid 3-letter single-letter

L-alanine Ala A

L-arginine Arg R

L-asparagine Asn N

L-aspartic acid Asp D

L-cysteine Cys C

L-glutamine Gln Q

L-glutamic acid Glu E

L-glycine Gly G

L-histidine His H

L-isoleucine Be I

L-leucine Leu L

L-lysine Lys K

L-methionine Met M

L-phenylalanine Phe F

L-proline Pro P

L-serine Ser S

L-threonine Thr T

L-tryptophan Trp w

L-tyrosine Tyr Y

L-valine Val V

Table 3 provides a summary of the SEQ ID No's assigned to genetic sequences referred to herein:

TABLE 3

Sequence SEQ ID No cDN A insert of pCGP481 SEQ ID No: 1

cDNA insert of pCGP489 SEQ ID No: 2

cDNA insert of pCGP490 SEQ ID No: 3

cDNA insert of pCGP777 SEQ ID No: 4

cDNA insert of pCGP874 SEQ ID No: 5

Oligo #1 SEQ ID No: 6

Oligo #2 SEQ ID No: 7

Oligo #3 SEQ ID No: 8

Oligo #4 SEQ ID No: 9

Oligo #5 SEQ ID No: 10

Oligo #6 SEQ ID No: 11

Oligo #7 SEQ ID No: 12

Oligo #8 SEQ ID No: 13

Oligo #9 SEQ ID No: 14

Oligo #10 SEQ ID No: 15

Oligo #11 SEQ ID No: 16

In the Figures: Figure 1 is a schematic representation of the conversion of dihydroflavonols to flavonols in Petunia hybrida. Enzymes involved in each step of the pathway are indicated as follows: F3 'H = Flavonoid 3'-hydroxylase; F3'5'H = Flavonoid 3',5'-hydroxylase; FLS = flavonol synthase. DHK = dihydrokaempferol, DHQ = dihydroquercetin, DHM = dihydromyricetin, K = kaempferol, Q = quercetin, M = myricetin. Figure 2 is an autoradiograph of an RNA gel blot probed with ³²P-labelled pDIOXC3 cDNA insert. Each lane contained 20 μg of total RNA isolated from the following - 1-5: OGB limb tissue of flowers at the five stages of development; T: OGB tube tissue from stage 3-4 flowers; L: leaf tissue from six week old OGB seedlings.

Figure 3 shows the sequencing strategy used to obtain the complete nucleotide sequence of the cDNA insert of pCGP481. Arrows indicate the direction and length of sequences read from individual sequencing reactions. Sequencing reactions using custom-made oligonucleotide primers (Oligos 7-9; SEQ ID No's 12-14) are also shown.

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic representation of the construction of pCGP631. pCGP631 was constructed by cloning the pCGP481 cDNA insert in a sense orientation behind the yeast glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase promoter in the expression vector pYGA22m. The cDNA insert from pCGP481 was ligated as a

EcoRI/XhoI fragment with the large fragment that resulted from the EcoRI/SalI digestion of pYGA22m. IR = inverted repeat of 2 μm plasmid, TRP1 = TRP1 gene, Ap = ampicillin resistance marker. Figure 5 shows a FLS assay of yeast extracts using DHQ as substrate. The autoradiograph shows conversion of [¹⁴C]-DHQ to quercetin by enzyme extracts of yeast transformed with the plasmid pCGP631. No FLS activity was detected in untransformed yeast. C = unlabelled quercetin without yeast extract. The position of migration of unlabelled quercetin is circled.

EXAMPLE 1 - MATERIALS

Enzymes

All enzymes were obtained from commercial sources and used according to the manufacturer's recommendations.

Bacterial Strains

The following Escherichia coli strains were used:

PLK-F' and SURE, both obtained from Stratagene; XL1-Blue (Bullock et al.,1987), and DH5α (Hanahan, 1983 and BRL, 1986). The Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain used was the disarmed AGLO (Lazo et al, 1991).

Plant Material

The Petunia hybrida varieties used are indicated in Table 4, overleaf.

Flowers of Dianthus caryophyllus cv. Laguna were obtained from Van Wyk and Son Flower Supply, Victoria. Chrysanthemum morifolium cultivars were obtained from Baguley Flower and Plant

Growers, Victoria.

EXAMPLE 2 - PLANT GROWING CONDITIONS & STAGES

Growth of plants

Petunia hybrida plants were grown in specialised growth rooms with a 14 hour day length at a light intensity of 10,000 lux and a temperature of 22 to 26°C. OGB flowers were harvested at developmental stages defined as follows:

Stage 1: Unpigmented, closed bud (<25 mm in length).

Stage 2: Pigmented, closed bud (25-35 mm in length).

Stage 3: Dark purple bud with emerging corolla (>35 mm in length).

Stage 4: Dark purple opened flower pre-anther dehiscence (>50 mm in length).

Stage 5: Fully opened flower with all anthers dehisced. TABLE 4

Plant variety Genotype Source/Reference Old Glory Blue An1, An2, An3, An4, An6, Ball Seed, USA

(F1 Hybrid) An8, An9, An10, An11, Hf1,

Ht1, Rt, Po, B1, F1

(inferred from phenotype) V23 An1, An2, An3, An4, An6 Wallroth et al. 1986

An8, An9, An10, ph1, Hf1, Doodeman et al. 1984 Hf2, ht1, Rt, po, B1, F1

R51 An1, An2, An3, an4, An6, Wallroth et al. 1986

An8, An9, An10, An11, van Tunen et al. 1990 Ph1, hf1, hf2, Ht1, rt, Doodeman et al. 1984 Po, b1, f1

Ba20 an1, An2 an4, An6, hf1, hf2, E. Farcy

Ht1, Ph1, Ph2, Ph5, Gf, mf1, INRA, Dijon

mf2, Rt, f1

V26 An1, An2, An3, an4, An6, A. Gerats

An8, An9, An10, An11, Ht1, Free University

Hf1, hf2, Ph1, ph2, Ph5, mf1, Amsterdam mf2, Mt1, Mt2, po, Gf, Rt, F1

Flowers of the other petunia varieties were harvested prior to anther dehiscence, at the stage of maximum pigment accumulation.

Stages of Dianthus caryophyllus flower development were defined as follows:

Stage 1: No visible flower bud.

Stage 2: Flower buds opening: tips of florets visible.

Stage 3: Tips of nearly all florets exposed; outer florets opening, none horizontal.

Stage 4: Outer florets horizontal. Stages of Chrysanthemum flower development were defined as follows:

Stage 0: No visible flower bud.

Stage 1: Flower bud visible: florets completely covered by the bracts.

Stage 2: Flower buds opening: tips of florets visible.

Stage 3: Florets tightly overlapped.

Stage 4: Tips of nearly all florets exposed; outer florets opening but none horizontal.

Stage 5: Outer florets horizontal.

Stage 6: Flower approaching maturity.

EXAMPLE 3 Synthesis of Oligonucleotides

Oligonucleotides were synthesised on an Applied Biosystems PCR-Mate DNA synthesiser using methods recommended by the manufacturer. The oligonucleotides synthesised were, 5'-3':

Oligo 1: GAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGATCTCGAGTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

SEQ ID No:6

Oligo 2 TGGGGIITITT(T,C)(C,G)AIITI(A,G)TI(A,G)AICA SEQ ID NO:7 Oligo 3 TI(A,G)TIAA(T,C)CA(T,C)GGI(A,T)TICC SEQ ID NO:8 Oligo 4: GGI(T,C)TITT(T,C)(C,G)A(A,G)ITI(A,G)TIAA(T,C)CA(T,C)GG

SEQ ID No:9

Oligo 5: GG(T,C)TTIGG(A,G)CAIGGIGG(A,G)TA SEQ ID No: 10

Oligo 6: GG(A,G)CAIGGIGG(A,G)TA(A,G)TA(A,G)TT SEQ ID No: 11

Oligo 7: ATCAGAGTACATTAGGTC SEQ ID No: 12

Oligo 8: GTCCCAAATGAAGTCCAAG SEQ ID No: 13

Oligo 9: TTCTTCGTTTGCTTCCCT SEQ ID No: 14

Oligo 10: CTAGGTACCGGGCCCAAAGGATCCTCTAGAGTAC SEQ ID No: 15

Oligo 11: TCTAGAGGATCCTTTGGGCCCGGTAC SEQ ID No: 16 Where two nucleotides are given in parentheses, this indicates a choice of one or other of the nucleotides; the abbreviation "I" represents deoxyinosine. EXAMPLE 4 - CLONING OF A DIOXYGENASE FROM PETUNIA

Construction of a petunia cDNA library

Total RNA was isolated from the petal tissue of P. hybrida cv. OGB stage 3 to 4 flowers using the method of Turpen and Griffith (1986). Poly (A)⁺ RNA was selected from the total RNA by three cycles of oligo-dT cellulose chromatography (Aviv and Leder, 1972).

Two micrograms of poly(A)⁺ RNA were reverse transcribed in a 20 μL volume containing 1 × Superscript™ reaction buffer, 10 mM dithiothreitol, 500 μM dATP, 500 μM dGTP, 500 μM dTTP, 500 μM 5-methyl-dCTP, 0.75 μg Oligo 1 (SEQ ID No:6) and 2 μL Superscript™ reverse transcriptase (BRL). The reaction mix was incubated at 37°C for 50 minutes, 44°C for 10 minutes, then placed on ice. Second strand reaction mix (140 μL) was added to the first strand reaction. The second strand reaction mix consisted of 21 mM Tris-HCl, 104 mM KCl, 5.3 mM MgCl₂, 171 μM β-NAD, 11.4 mM (NH₄)₂SO₄, 214 μM dATP, 642 μM dCTP, 214 mM dGTP, 214 μM dTTP, 4 mM DTT, 10 μCi ³²p-dCTP (3000 Ci/mmole), 15 units E. coli DNA ligase, 40 units E. coli DNA polymerase I (Boehringer) and 0.8 units RNAse H. The final mixture was incubated for 150 minutes at 16°C. To make the double-stranded cDNA blunt-ended, 10 units of T4 DNA polymerase was added, and the reaction was continued for a further 15 minutes at 16°C. The reaction was stopped and the cDNA purified by phenol/chloroform extraction, followed by chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation.

EcoRI adaptors (Promega) were ligated with the cDNA and then kinased with polynucleotide kinase (Amersham) using conditions recommended by the manufacturer. The enzymes were denatured by heat (70°C for 20 minutes) and the DNA was purified by phenol/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation. The cDNA was digested with 50 units XhoI (Boehringer) in a reaction volume of 100 μL, using conditions recommended by the manufacturer. The enzyme was heat killed (70°C for 20 minutes) and the cDNA digest passed through a Sephacryl S400 spun column (Pharmacia) which had been equilibrated in STE buffer (Sambrook et al., 1989). The eluate was phenol/chloroform extracted and ethanol precipitated. After microcentrifugation at 4°C for 30 minutes the cDNA pellet was rinsed with 70% (v/v) ethanol, air dried and resuspended in 10 μL of TE buffer (10 mM Tris-HCl, 1 mM EDTA, pH 7.5 ). One-quarter of the cDNA (2.5 μL) was ligated with 1 μg of λZAPII EcoRI/XhoI/CIAP treated vector (Stratagene) in 5 μL reaction buffer consisting of 50 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.0), 10 mM MgCl₂, 10 mM dithiothreitol, 1 mM ATP and 2 units of T4 DNA ligase. The reaction was incubated at 4°C for 4 days.

After incubating at room temperature for two hours, the ligation reaction mixture was packaged using the Packagene system (Promega). The total number of recombinants was 1 × 10⁶. An amount of 1 × 10⁶ plaque forming units (pfu) of the packaged cDNA was plated at 50,000 pfu per 15 cm diameter plate after transfecting E. coli PLK-F' cells. The plates were incubated at 37°C for eight hours, then stored overnight at 4°C. Phage were eluted from the plates into phage storage buffer (8 mM MgSO₄, 100 mM NaCl, 0.01% (w/v) gelatin, 50 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0) to form an amplified cDNA library stock. Design of dioxygenase oligonucleotide primers

A number of dioxygenases have been sequenced, from organisms as diverse as plants (Matsuda et al., 1991; Martin et al., 1991), fungi and bacteria (Cohen et al, 1990). A characteristic of all these enzymes is the existence of a number of small regions of sequence conservation. Amino acid sequences of a number of different plant dioxygenases were aligned using the CLUSTAL programs of Higgins and Sharp

(1988). The sequences used were Candi (Martin et al., 1991), hyoscyamine 6β-hydroxylase (H6H) (Matsuda et al, 1991), flavanone 3-hydroxylase (F3H), E8 (Deikman and Fischer, 1988), A2 (Menssen et al., 1990) and Tom13 (Holdsworth et al., 1987). This analysis revealed two well-conserved regions, shown in Table 5: TABLE 5

Candi (snapdragon) WGVMHLINHGVP - - - NYYPKCPQP

H6H (Hyoscyamus niger) FGLFQVINHGFP - - - NYYPPCPDP

F3H (barley) WGIFQVIDHGVD - - - NFYPRCPQP

E8 (tomato) WGFFQVVNHGIP - - - NYYPPCPQP

A2 (maize) WGVMHIAGHGIP - - - NYYPRCPQP

Tom13 (tomato) WGFFELVNHGIP - - - SNYPPCPKP

Consensus wGffqvinHGip nyYPpCPqP

f imhlvd vd sf r d

v eiag f n k k Oligonucleotides were designed to hybridise to genes encoding sequences similar to the consensus sequences. The sequences of each of these oligonucleotides, designated Oligo 2-6 (SEQ ID No's 7 - 11), are shown above. The inclusion of deoxyinosine (I) covered the different possibilities for codon usage where more than two codons could encode the same amino acid. Deoxyinosine base-pairs with similar efficiency to A, T, G and C (Martin et al, 1985; Ohtsuka et al., 1985).

PCR amplification of petunia dioxygenase gene fragments

Total RNA was isolated from stages 3-4 flowers of Ba20 (flfl) and V26 (FlFl). 25 μg of total RNA was ethanol precipitated, pelleted and resuspended in 10.5 μL water. One μL (0.5 μg) of Oligo 1 (SEQ ID No:6) was added and the mixture was heated at 70°C for 10 minutes then placed on ice. The following were then added: 4 μL Superscript™ reaction buffer (5x stock), 2 μL of 100 mM dithiothreitol, 0.5 μL of 5 mM dATP, 0.5 μL of 5 mM dCTP, 0.5 μL of 5 mM dGTP, 0.5 μL of 5 mM dTTP, and 0.5 μL of [α-³²P]-dCTP. The mixture was incubated at 37°C for 2 minutes. Following the addition of 1 μL (200 units) of Superscript™ reverse transcriptase, the reaction was incubated at 37°C for 60 minutes and then terminated by the addition of 80 μL of STE. The cDNA was purified by Sephacryl S200 spun-column chromatography, followed by ethanol precipitation and resuspension in 100 μL TE buffer. This cDNA was used as the template for PCR.

PCR reactions for amplification of petunia dioxygenase gene fragments contained 4 μL of cDNA, 10 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.3), 50 mM KCl, 2 mM MgCl₂, 0.01% (w/v) gelatin, 0.2 mM each dNTP, 0.4 μM each primer and 1.25 units Taq polymerase

(Cetus). Reaction mixes (50 μL) were cycled 40 times: 94°C for 50 seconds; 42°C for 1 minute; 72°C for 1 minute. Fifteen microlitres of each PCR was electrophoresed on a 1.25% (w/v) agarose gel. DNA framments in the size range 300-500 bp were collected onto NA-45 membrane. The DNA was eluted from the membrane and then ethanol precipitated, pelleted by centrifugation and resuspended in 25 μL of TE buffer. One μL of DNA fragments from each of the V26 PCRs were pooled and ³²P-labelled using an oligo-labelling kit (BRESATEC). DNA fragments from the Ba20 PCRs were labelled in a similar manner. Isolation of dioxygenase homologues from a petunia petal cDNA library

Duplicate lifts of 16,000 plaques were hybridised with 5 × 10⁵ cpm/μL of either the V26 probe or the Ba20 probe, and washed as follows: High stringency conditions (hybridisation: 50% (v/v) formamide, 6 x SSC, 1% (w/v) SDS at 42°C for 16 hours and washing: 2 × SSC, 1% (w/v) SDS at 65°C for 2 × 15 minutes followed by 0.2 x SSC, 1% (w/v) SDS at 65°C for 2 × 15 minutes) were used to detect sibling clones. Fourteen clones hybridised to the V26 probe but not the Ba20 probe. A further 12 clones hybridised more strongly to the V26 probe than the Ba20 probe. Plasmid cDNA clones in pBluescript were rescued from λZAPII clones using the helper phage R408 (Stratagene).

DNA sequencing of this and other clones was performed essentially by the method of Sanger et al. (1977) using the Sequenase enzyme (USB, version 2.1).

EXAMPLE 5 - NORTHERN ANALYSIS

Total RNA was isolated from tissue that had been frozen in liquid nitrogen and ground to a fine powder using a mortar and pestle. An extraction buffer of 4 M guanidium isothiocyanate, 50 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0), 20 mM EDTA, 0.1% (v/v) Sarkosyl, was added to the tissue and the mixture was homogenised for 1 minute using a polytron at maximum speed. The suspension was filtered through Miracloth (Calbiochem) and centrifuged in a JA20 rotor for 10 minutes at 10,000 rpm. The supernatant was collected and made to 0.2 g/ mL CsCl (w/v). Samples were then layered over a 10 mL cushion of 5.7 M CsCl, 50 mM EDTA (pH 7.0) in 38.5 mL Quick- seal centrifuge tubes (Beckman) and centrifuged at 42,000 rpm for 16 hours at 25°C in a 70Ti rotor. Pellets were resuspended in TE/SDS (10 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.5), 1 mM EDTA, 0.1% (w/v) SDS) and extracted with phenol:chloroform:isoamyl alcohol (25:24:1) saturated in 10 mM EDTA (pH 7.5). Following ethanol precipitation, the RNA pellets were resuspended in TE/SDS.

RNA samples (20 μg) were electrophoresed through a 2.2 M formaldehyde / 1.2% (w/v) agarose gel using running buffer containing 20 mM morpholinopropanesulphonic acid (pH 7.0), 5 mM sodium acetate, 0.1 mM EDTA (pH 8.0). The RNA was transferred to Hybond-N membrane (Amersham) as recommended by the manufacturer and probed with ³²P-labelled 0.9 kb EcoRI-XhoI pDIOXC3 cDNA fragment (10⁸ cpm/μg, 2 × 10⁶ cpm/μL). Prehybridisation (one hour at 42°C) and hybridisation (16 hours at 42°C) were carried out in 50% (v/v) formamide, 1 M NaCl, 1% (w/v) SDS, 10% (w/v) dextran sulphate. Degraded salmon sperm DNA (100 μg/mL) was added with the ³²P-labelled probe for the hybridisation step. Filters were washed in 2 × SSC/ 1% (w/v) SDS at 65°C for 1 to 2 hours and then 0.2 × SSC/ 1% (w/v) SDS at 65°C for 30 to 60 minutes. Filters were exposed to Kodak XAR film with an intensifying screen at -70°C for 48 hours (Figure 2).

RNA gel blot analysis revealed that the gene corresponding to the cDNA clone pDIOXC3 was expressed at the highest level during Stage 1 of flower development and then declined. The expression pattern is similar to that of FLS enzyme activity in petunia flowers (Forkmann et al., 1986).

EXAMPLE 6 - RFLP MAPPING OF pDIOXC3

There is one genetic locus in P. hybrida, Fl, that controls FLS activity. It was therefore expected that a cDNA clone encoding a P. hybrida FLS would map to the Fl locus, provided that the Fl locus encodes the structural gene for FLS. Fl has been mapped to chromosome II of the P. hybrida genome and is linked to within 2% recombination of the PAc1 gene (Cornu et al., 1990). RFLP analysis of DNA isolated from an F2 population of plants derived from a cross between the inbred lines V23 (FlFl) and R51 (flfl) was used to obtain linkage data for the various dioxygenase homologues.

Isolation of Genomic DNA

DNA was isolated from leaf tissue of V23 × R51 F2 plants essentially as described by Dellaporta et al., (1983). The DNA preparations were further purified by CsCl buoyant density centrifugation (Sambrook et al., 1989).

Southern blots

The genomic DNA (10 μg) was digested for 16 hours with 60 units of XbaI and electrophoresed through a 0.7% (w/v) agarose gel in a running buffer of TAE (40 mM Tris-acetate, 50 mM EDTA). The DNA was then denatured in denaturing solution (1.5 M NaCl/0.5 M NaOH) for 1 to 1.5 hours, neutralised in 0.5 M Tris-HCl (pH 7.5)/1.5 M NaCl for 2 hours and the DNA was then transferred to a Hybond-N (Amersham) filter in 20 × SSC. DNA fragments (50 to 100 ng) were radioactively labelled with 50 μCi of [α-³²P]¬dCTP using an oligolabelling kit (Bresatec). Unincorporated [α-³²P]-dCTP was removed by chromatography on a Sephadex G-50 (Fine) column. A PAc1 probe was synthesised from a 2.7 kb HindIII/BamHI fragment of pPAc1 (Baird and Meagher, 1987). A pDIOXC3 cDNA probe was synthesised from a 0.9 kb EcoRI-XhoI fragment of pDIOXC3.

Duplicate Southern blots of genomic DNA digested with XbaI were hybridised with either the ρDIOXC3 probe or the PAc1 probe, to detect RFLP patterns. For 40 out of the 42 plants analysed there was co-segregation of the V23, VR and R51 RFLP patterns for PAc1 with the corresponding RFLP patterns of pDIOXC3, demonstrating the corresponding genes are closely linked (4.7% recombination). These data provided strong evidence that the gene corresponding to pDIOXC3 is linked to the Fl locus. This linkage, as well as the Northern analysis, provided circumstantial evidence that the pDIOXC3 cDNA might encode FLS.

EXAMPLE 7 - ISOLATION OF FULL-LENGTH SIBLING cDNA

CLONES OF pDIOXC3

From preliminary sequence analysis it was shown that pDIOXC3 did not represent a full-length clone of the corresponding transcript. To obtain a full-length version of pDIOXC3, approximately 20,000 recombinants from the cDNA library were screened for clones that hybridised to the 0.9 kb EcoRI-XhoI fragment from pDIOXC3. Six clones produced strong hybridisation signals and were chosen for further analysis. A number of clones appeared to be full-length based on agreement between the size of the cDNA insert and the mRNA. The complete sequence of the cDNA insert from one of these clones, designated pCGP481, was determined by compilation of sequence from different pBluescript subclones obtained using standard cloning procedures (Sambrook et al., 1989). For some regions it was necessary to synthesise specific oligonucleotide primers (Oligos 7-9; SEQ ID No's 12 - 14) to obtain overlapping sequence data. The complete nucleotide sequence and deduced amino acid sequence of pCGP481 is shown as SEQ ID No:1. EXAMPLE 8 - EXPRESSION OF PCGP481 cDNA IN YEAST

Construction of the yeast expression vector pYGA22m

M13-mp18 was digested with EcoRI and BglII to produce a 700 bp fragment that contained a multicloning site. This fragment was ligated with the 9 kb EcoRI-BglII fragment from pYGA2269 (Ashikari et al, 1989). The resulting construct, designated pYGA22m, contained the multicloning site inserted downstream of the yeast glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase promoter. Construction of pCGP631

A 1.3 kb EcoRI-XhoI fragment that included the entire cDNA insert from pCGP481 was ligated with the 9 kb EcoRI/SalI fragment from pYGA22m. The resulting plasmid, designated pCGP631 (Figure 4), contained the pCGP481 cDNA fragment ligated in a sense orientation behind the glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase promoter.

Yeast transformation

The yeast strain G-1315 (Matα, trpl) (Ashikara et al, 1989) was transformed with pCGP631 according to Ito et al., (1983). The transformants were selected by their ability to restore G-1315 to tryptophan prototrophy.

Preparation of yeast extracts for assay of FLS activity

Single isolates of G-1315/pCGP631 and a G-1315 revertant that grew on media lacking tryptophan were used to inoculate 10 mL of YNBC { 1.2% (w/v) yeast nitrogen base without amino acids (Difco) and 0.3% (w/v) Casamino acid (Difco)} and incubated with shaking for 2 days at 30°C.

Yeast cells were harvested by centrifugation, washed once with TE buffer and resuspended in 100 μL of buffer B (10 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.5), 1.2 M sorbitol, 0.1 mM DTT, 0.1 mM EDTA) containing zymolyase (0.1 mg/mL) (Seikagakukogyo,

Japan) and kept at 30°C for 1 hour. Spheroplasts were collected by centrifugation and resuspended in 500 μL of 0.1 M potassium phosphate buffer (pH 7.0) containing 1 mM 2-mercaptoethanol and 1 mM PMSF. The suspension was then vortexed with glass beads (diameter = 0.4 mm) for 2 minutes. The supernatant after centrifugation was used as a crude extract. FLS assay of yeast enzyme extracts

FLS activity was measured by the method of Forkmann et al. (1986) with modifications. The reaction mixture contained in a total of 200 μL: 0.1 M potassium phosphate (pH 7.0), 1.4 mM 2-mercaptoethanol, 250 μM 2-oxoglutarate, 5 mM ascorbic acid, 50 μM ferrous sulphate, 5000 cpm of ¹⁴C-DHQ and 40 μL of crude extract. Incubation was carried out for 10 minutes or 1 hour at 30°C. The mixture was immediately extracted with 500 μL of ethyl acetate and chromatographed on a cellulose plate (Merck Art 5577, Germany) with Forestal (acetic acid: HCl: water = 30: 3: 10) along with unlabelled DHQ and quercetin. Radioactivity was localised by autoradiography. An enzyme extract prepared from G-1315/ pCGP631 was shown to have FLS activity while an equivalent fraction prepared from non-transformed yeast had no activity (Figure 5). The yeast expression results confirmed that the cDNA insert from pCGP481 encoded an FLS enzyme. Forkmann et al. (1986) suggested that two enzymes, a 2-hydroxylase and a dehydratase, are necessary for the conversion of dihydroflavonols to flavonols. However, the results show that expression the enzyme encoded by the petunia FLS cDNA clone in yeast is sufficient for this conversion, suggesting that only one enzyme is required for the conversion of dihydroflavonols to flavonols.

EXAMPLE 9 - MANIPULATION OF FLAVONOL AND ANTHOCΫANIN SYNTHESIS IN TRANSGENIC PLANTS

Binary constructs

The binary expression vector pCGP478 was constructed by replacing the XbaI-KpnI fragment of the multiple cloning site from pCGP293 (Brugliera et al, 1993) with a synthetic polylinker containing sites for XbaI, BamHI, ApaI and Asp718. The synthetic polylinker was made by annealing the two oligonucleotides Oligo 10 and Oligo 11 (SEQ ID No's 15 and 16). The order of the restriction enzyme sites between the MAC promoter and the mas terminator of pCGP478 facilitates direct subcloning of cDNA inserts from directional λZAPII clones in an antisense orientation. A 1.2 kb XbaI/Asp718 fragment containing the complete cDNA from pCGP481 was cloned in an antisense orientation between the MAC promoter and mas terminator of pCGP478 to create pCGP479. The plasmid pCGP479 was introduced into Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain AGLO (Lazo et al, 1991) using the method of Gynheung et al. (1988). Cells of A. tumefaciens carrying pCGP479 were selected on MG/L agar plates containing 100 μg/mL gentamycin. A 1.2 kb XbaI/Asp718 fragment containing the cDNA from pCGP481 was cloned in a sense orientation between the MAC promoter and mas terminator of pCGP293 to create pCGP482. The plasmid pCGP482 was introduced into A. tumefaciens strain AGL0 (Lazo et al, 1991) using the method of Gynheung et al. (1988). Cells of A. tumefaciens carrying pCGP482 were selected on MG/L agar plates containing 100 μg/mL gentamycin.

Production of transgenic plants

Petunia cv. VR (Flfl) plants were transformed by co-cultivation of leaf discs with AGL0/pCGP479 using the method of Horsch et al. (1985). Transgenic plants were grown to flowering and scored for altered flower colour compared with non-transformed VR flowers. Four out of 12 transgenic plants produced redder flowers than non-transgenic controls. Apart from the change in flower colour in the transgenic petunias no other effects of antisense expression of the FLS cDNA were observed. Petunia cv. Old Glory Blue plants were transformed by co-cultivation of leaf discs with

AGL0/pCGP482 using the method of Horsch et al. (1985). Transgenic plants were grown to flowering and scored for altered flower colour compared with non-transformed Old Glory Blue flowers. Three out of 15 transgenic plants produced redder flowers than non-transgenic controls. Non-transgenic Old Glory Blue flowers are generally blue-violet while the colours of the Old Glory Blue flowers transformed with pCGP482 ranged in colour from blue-violet to purple.

Tobacco plants (Nicotiana tabacum cv. Xanthi) were transformed by co-cultivation of leaf discs with AGL0/pCGP479 using the method of Horsch et al. (1985). Tobacco flowers are normally light pink and produce low levels of cyanidin derivatives in the limb of the corolla. Transformation of tobacco with the antisense FLS gene construct caused a reduction in flavonol production and lead to the production of red flowers. Red pigmentation was also increased in the filaments. The red flower colour was due to a three-fold increase in anthocyanin production in the corolla limb.

The colour changes observed may be described in terms of the numbers from the Royal Horticultural Society's Colour Chart as shown in Table 6, overleaf: TABLE 6 MODIFICATION OF FLOWER COLOUR IN TRANSGENIC PLANTS

Control: Petunia cv.VR Pmple-violet 80A

Transgenic: VR/pCGP479 Red-purple 74A

Control: Petunia cv. Old Glory Blue Violet-blue 89A - 89C

Transgenic: OGB/pCGP482 Violet 83A - 83B

Control: Nicotiana tabacum cv. Xanthi Red-purple 65B

Transgenic: Xanthi/pCGP479 Red 51B

It should be noted, however, that other biochemical and physiological conditions will affect the individual outcome and the citing of the specific colour change achieved by expression of the FLS sense and antisense constructs in transgenic plants should not be interpreted as limiting the possible range of colour changes which may be observed.

Extraction and analysis of flavonoids from flowers

Flavonol aglycones were isolated from petunia flowers by boiling a single corolla in 1 mL of 2 M HCl for 30 minutes and extracting the flavonoids with 150 μL ethyl acetate. For thin layer chromatography (TLC), 4 μL of ethyl acetate extracts and 4 μL flavonol standards (kaempferol, quercetin and myricetin) were applied to a TLC plate and developed as described above. Flavonols were visualised under UV light after fuming with ammonia.

Flavonols extracted from petuniaVR and petunia VR/pCGP479 flowers were analysed by thin layer chromatography. The red VR/pCGP479 flowers produced markedly less flavonols than non-transgenic VR flowers. Flowers from tobacco plants transformed with pCGP479 were similarly analysed and found to have reduced flavonol content

Anthocyanins were extracted from petunia and tobacco flowers with 0.5% HCl in methanol. Anthocyanin concentrations were estimated from A530 measurements of the extracts as described by Gerats (1985). EXAMPLE 10 - ISOLATION OF cDNA HOMOLOGUES

FROM NICOTIANA

Construction and screening of a Nicotiana alata cDNA library

A cDNA library in the vector λZAP was made from RNA isolated from styles of S6S6 Nicotiana alata as described by Chen et al. (1992).

Approximately 36,000 cDNA clones were hybridised with ³²P-labelled pCGP481 cDNA fragment in 6 × SSC, 35% (v/v) formamide, 1% (w/v) SDS for 16 hours at 42°C. The filters were washed under medium stringency conditions in 2 × SSC, 1% SDS at 65 °C and then autoradiographed. Hybridising plaques were picked off into PSB to allow the phage to elute. Eight plasmid clones were rescued using the single-stranded helper phage VCSM13 (Stratagene). The clone containing the largest cDNA insert, pCGP489, was sequenced (SEQ ID No:2) and showed 88% similarity to the Petunia FLS genetic sequence at the nucleotide level, and 91% similarity over 241 amino acids to me Petunia FLS sequence encoded by pCGP481.

Construction and screening of a Nicotiana sylvestris cDNA library

A cDNA library in the vector λZAPII was made from RNA isolated from styles of Nicotiana sylvestris using methods described by Chen et al (1992).

Approximately 120,000 cDNA clones were hybridised with ³²P-labelled pCGP481 cDNA fragment in low stringency hybridisation buffer (6×SSC, 35% (v/v) formamide, 1% (w/v) SDS) for 16 hours at 42°C. The filters were washed in 2xSSC, 1% (w/v) SDS at 65°C and then autoradiographed. Hybridising plaques were picked off into

PSB to allow the phage to elute. Three plasmid clones were rescued using the single-stranded helper phage VCSM13. The clone containing the largest cDNA insert, pCGP490, was sequenced (SEQ ID No:3) and showed 84% similarity to the Petunia FLS genetic sequence at the nucleotide level, and 93% similarity over the 45 amino acid sequence to the Petunia FLS sequence encoded by pCGP481.

A comparison of the amino acid sequences of the two Nicotiana cDNA clones pCGP489 (SEQ ID No:2) and pCGP490 (SEQ ID No:3) with the amino acid sequence of the petunia FLS cDNA clone (SEQ ID No:1) is shown in Table 7, overleaf.

EXAMPLE 11 - ISOLATION OF cDNA HOMOLOGUE

FROM DIANTHUS

Construction of a Dianthus cDNA library

Total RNA was isolated from the petal tissue of D. caryophyllus cv. Laguna stage 3 flowers, using the method of Turpen and Griffith (1986). Poly(A)⁺ RNA was selected from the total RNA by Oligotex dT-30 (Takana, Japan) following the manufacturer's protocol. cDNA was made and a library constructed in λZAPII according to the protocol used for the petunia library.

The primary library, which contained 150,000 pfu, was plated at 37,500 pfu per 15 cm diameter plate after transfecting E. coli SURE cells. The plates were incubated at 37°C for eight hours, then stored overnight at 4°C. Phage were eluted from the plates into phage storage buffer (8 mM MgSO₄, 100 mM NaCl, 0.01% (w/v) gelatin, 50 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0) to form an amplified cDNA library stock. Isolation of a FLS homologue from a Dianthus cDNA library

A total of 100,000 plaques were screened, in duplicate, with ³²P-labelled 1.1 kb EcoRI-HindII pDIOXC3 cDNA fragment (5 × 10⁵ cpm/μL). Hybridisation was carried out in a low stringency buffer (6 × SSC, 0.5% (w/v) SDS, 5 × Denhardt's solution, 0.01 M EDTA, 100 μg/ml) for 16 hours at 42°C. The filters were washed in 2 × SSC/1 % (w/v) SDS at 65°C and then autoradiographed. Hybridised cDNA clones were rescued from λZAPII using the single-stranded helper phage Exassist (Stratagene) according to the manufacturer's instructions.

When sequenced, one of the isolated clones, pCGP777 (SEQ ID No:4), revealed 65% similarity at both the nucleotide level and the amino acid level to the Petunia FLS sequence encoded by pCGP481. EXAMPLE 12 - ISOLATION OF cDNA HOMOLOGUE

FROM CHRYSANTHEMUM

Construction of a Chrysanthemum cDNA library

Total RNA was isolated from the petal tissue of Chrysanthemum morifolium cv. Dark Pink Pompom (Reference Number 5999), stages 2 and 3 flowers, again using the method of Turpen and Griffith (1986). An amount of 30 μg of the total RNA was used as template for cDNA synthesis. Following fractionation and ligation, the cDNA reaction mixture was packaged using the Packagene system (Promega). The titre of the unamplified library was 3.7 × 10⁴ pfu/ml.

Isolation of a FLS homologue from a Chrysanthemum cDNA library An amount of 90,000 pfu (of amplified library; 2.6 × 10⁷ pfu/ml) of the packaged cDNA was plated at 10,000 pfu per 15 cm diameter plate after transfecting XLl-Blue cells. The plates were incubated at 37°C overnight, then stored at 4°C. Duplicate lifts were taken onto Colony/Plaque Screen™ filters (DuPont), treated as recommended by the manufacturer, and screened with the ³²P-labelled EcoRI-XhoI pCGP481 cDNA fragment. Hybridisation was carried out in a low stringency buffer (6 × SSC, 1.0%

(w/v) SDS, 20% (v/v) formamide) for 16 hours at 42°C. The filters were washed twice for 30 minutes in 2 × SSC/1 % SDS at 65°C, and then autoradiographed.

The isolated clone pCGP874 (SEQ ID No:5), when sequenced, revealed 70% similarity at the nucleotide level and 72% similarity at the amino acid level to the

Petunia FLS sequence encoded by pCGP481.

EXAMPLE 13 - EXPRESSION OF PCGP874 cDNA IN YEAST Construction of the yeast expression vector pYGA22m and pCGP492

The yeast expression vector pYGA22m was contracted as described in Example 8 above. A 1.3 kb EcoRI-XhoI fragment that included the entire cDNA insert from pCGP874 was ligated with the 9 kb EcoRI/SalI fragment from pYGA22m, in the same manner as for the construction of pCGP 631, described above and shown in Figure 4. The resulting plasmid, designated pCGP492, contained the pCGP874 cDNA fragment ligated in a sense orientation behind the glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase promoter. Yeast transformation and assay of FLS activity

Transformation of yeast and preparation of extracts for assay of FLS activity were carried out as described above in Example 8. FLS activity was again measured by the method of Forkmann et al. (1986) with modifications, using unlabelled DHK and DHQ as substrates. The results confirmed that the pCGP874 cDNA encodes a functional chrysanthemum FLS enzyme.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention described herein is susceptible to variations and modifications other than those specifically described. It is to be understood that the invention includes all such variations and modifications. The invention also includes all of the steps, features, compositions and compounds referred to or indicated in this specification, individually or collectively, and any and all combinations of any two or more of said steps or features.

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SEQUENCE LISTING

(1) GENERAL INFORMATION:

(i) APPLICANT (other than US): INTERNATIONAL FLOWER DEVELOPMENTS PTY

LTD

(US only) : HOLTON, T.A. , KEAM, L.A.

(ii) TITLE OF INVENTION: GENETIC SEQUENCES ENCODING FLAVONOL

SYNTHASE ENZYMES AND USES THEREFOR

(iii) NUMBER OF SEQUENCES: 16

(iv) CORRESPONDENCE ADDRESS:

(A) ADDRESSEE: DAVIES COLLISON CAVE

(B) STREET: 1 LITTLE COLLINS STREET

(C) CITY: MELBOURNE

(D) STATE: VICTORIA

(E) COUNTRY: AUSTRALIA

(F) ZIP: 3000

(v) COMPUTER READABLE FORM:

(A) MEDIUM TYPE: Floppy disk

(B) COMPUTER: IBM PC compatible

(C) OPERATING SYSTEM: PC-DOS/MS-DOS

(D) SOFTWARE: PatentIn Release #1.0, Version #1.25

(vi) CURRENT APPLICATION DATA:

(A) APPLICATION NUMBER: AU INTERNATIONAL

(B) FILING DATE: 05-AUG-1993

(C) CLASSIFICATION:

(viii) ATTORNEY/AGENT INFORMATION:

(A) NAME: SLATTERY, JOHN M.

(C) REFERENCE/DOCKET NUMBER: EJH/JMS/EK

(ix) TELECOMMUNICATION INFORMATION:

(A) TELEPHONE: 61 3 254 2777

(B) TELEFAX: 61 3 254 2770

(C) TELEX: AA 31787 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO : 1 :

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 1211 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS : single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA (iii) HYPOTHETICAL: NO

(ix) FEATURE:

(A) NAME/KEY: CDS

(B) LOCATION: 59..1101

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO : 1 :

GTTTTTCTAA AAACAGAGGG CCTAACTTCT GTATAGACAA AGAAAAAAAG AAAAGAAA 58

ATG AAA ACA GCT CAA GGT GTC AGT GCA ACC CTA ACA ATG GAA GTG GCA 106 Met Lys Thr Ala Gln Gly Val Ser Ala Thr Leu Thr Met Glu Val Ala

1 5 10 15

AGA GTA CAA GCA ATA GCA TCG TTA AGC AAG TGC ATG GAC ACA ATT CCA 154 Arg Val Gln Ala Ile Ala Ser Leu Ser Lys Cys Met Asp Thr Ile Pro

20 25 30

TCA GAG TAC ATT AGG TCC GAG AAT GAG CAA CCA GCA GCC ACA ACC CTG 202 Ser Glu Tyr Ile Arg Ser Glu Asn Glu Gln Pro Ala Ala Thr Thr Leu

35 40 45

CAT GGG GTA GTT CTT CAA GTG CCA GTG ATT GAC CTA CGT GAC CCT GAT 250 His Gly Val Val Leu Gln Val Pro Val Ile Asp Leu Arg Asp Pro Asp

50 55 60

GAG AAC AAG ATG GTG AAG CTC ATA GCT GAT GCT AGC AAA GAG TGG GGG 298 Glu Asn Lys Met Val Lys Leu Ile Ala Asp Ala Ser Lys Glu Trp Gly 65 70 75 80

ATA TTC CAA CTG ATC AAC CAT GGC ATT CCT GAT GAG GCT ATC GCG GAT 346 Ile Phe Gln Leu Ile Asn His Gly Ile Pro Asp Glu Ala Ile Ala Asp

85 90 95

TTA CAG AAA GTA GGG AAA GAG TTC TTT GAA CAT GTT CCA CAG GAG GAG 394 Leu Gln Lys Val Gly Lys Glu Phe Phe Glu His Val Pro Gln Glu Glu

100 105 110 AAA GAG CTG ATT GCC AAG ACT CCA GGA TCA AAC GAC ATT GAA GGC TAT 442 Lys Glu Leu Ile Ala Lys Thr Pro Gly Ser Asn Asp Ile Glu Gly Tyr

115 120 125

GGA ACT TCT CTG CAG AAG GAA GTG GAA GGC AAG AAA GGT TGG GTG GAT 490 Gly Thr Ser Leu Gln Lys Glu Val Glu Gly Lys Lys Gly Trp Val Asp

130 135 140

CAT TTG TTC CAT AAG ATT TGG CCT CCT TCT GCC GTC AAC TAT CGT TAT 538 His Leu Phe His Lys Ile Trp Pro Pro Ser Ala Val Asn Tyr Arg Tyr 145 150 155 160

TGG CCT AAA AAC CCT CCT TCA TAC AGG GAA GCA AAC GAA GAA TAT GGA 586 Trp Pro Lys Asn Pro Pro Ser Tyr Arg Glu Ala Asn Glu Glu Tyr Gly

165 170 175

AAG AGG ATG CGA GAA GTT GTA GAC AGA ATT TTT AAG AGC TTG TCT CTT 634 Lys Arg Met Arg Glu Val Val Asp Arg Ile Phe Lys Ser Leu Ser Leu

180 185 190

GGG CTT GGG CTT GAA GGC CAT GAA ATG ATA GAG GCA GCT GGT GGT GAT 682 Gly Leu Gly Leu Glu Gly His Glu Met Ile Glu Ala Ala Gly Gly Asp

195 200 205

GAG ATA GTT TAC TTG TTG AAG ATC AAC TAT TAC CCA CCA TGC CCA AGG 730 Glu Ile Val Tyr Leu Leu Lys Ile Asn Tyr Tyr Pro Pro Cys Pro Arg

210 215 220

CCC GAT TTG GCT CTT GGT GTT GTG GCC CAT ACG GAC ATG TCA TAT ATC 778 Pro Asp Leu Ala Leu Gly Val Val Ala His Thr Asp Met Ser Tyr Ile 225 230 235 240

ACC ATT CTT GTC CCA AAT GAA GTC CAA GGC CTC CAA GTG TTC AAG GAT 826 Thr Ile Leu Val Pro Asn Glu Val Gln Gly Leu Gln Val Phe Lys Asp

245 250 255

GGC CAT TGG TAT GAT GTC AAG TAC ATA CCA AAT GCC TTA ATT GTC CAT 874 Gly His Trp Tyr Asp Val Lys Tyr Ile Pro Asn Ala Leu Ile Val His

260 265 270

ATT GGT GAC CAA GTT GAG ATT CTT AGC AAT GGC AAA TAC AAG AGT GTA 922 Ile Gly Asp Gln Val Glu Ile Leu Ser Asn Gly Lys Tyr Lys Ser Val

275 280 285

TAC CAT AGG ACA ACG GTG AAC AAG GAC AAG ACA AGA ATG TCA TGG CCG 970 Tyr His Arg Thr Thr Val Asn Lys Asp Lys Thr Arg Met Ser Trp Pro

290 295 300 GTT TTC TTG GAG CCC CCG TCA GAG CAT GAA GTT GGG CCA ATT CCT AAG 1018 Val Phe Leu Glu Pro Pro Ser Glu His Glu Val Gly Pro Ile Pro Lys 305 310 315 320

CTG CTT AGT GAG GCC AAC CCA CCC AAA TTC AAG ACC AAG AAG TAC AAG 1066 Leu Leu Ser Glu Ala Asn Pro Pro Lys Phe Lys Thr Lys Lys Tyr Lys

325 330 335

GAT TAC GTC TAT TGT AAG CTT AAC AAG CTT CCT CAG TGAAGAAGC 1111 Asp Tyr Val Tyr Cys Lys Leu Asn Lys Leu Pro Gln

340 345

ACCTCTATGT ATGGAGCGAT TAGCTATATC TTCGCGAGTG TTATGGTTTT 1161

ATTTGTACTG TCCTAATTAA TTACACAAAA AAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAA 1211

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO : 2 :

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 890 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS : single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA (iii) HYPOTHETICAL: NO

(ix) FEATURE:

(A) NAME/KEY: CDS

(B) LOCATION: 3..725

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:2:

GC GTA CCA CAA GAA GAG AAA GAG ATG ATT GCA AAG AGT CCA GGG TCG 47

Val Pro Gln Glu Glu Lys Glu Met Ile Ala Lys Ser Pro Gly Ser

1 5 10 15

CAG AAT ATT GAA GGG TAT GGT ACA TCT TTG CAG AAG GAA GTT GAA GGG 95 Gin Asn He Glu Gly Tyr Gly Thr Ser Leu Gin Lys Glu Val Glu Gly

20 25 30 AAA AGA GGT TGG GTT GAT CAT TTG TTT CAT AAG ATT TGG CCT CCT TCT 143 Lys Arg Gly Trp Val Asp His Leu Phe His Lys Ile Trp Pro Pro Ser

35 40 45

GCC ATC AAT TAT CGT TAT TGG CCT AAA AAC CCT CCT TCC TAC AGG GAA 191 Ala Ile Asn Tyr Arg Tyr Trp Pro Lys Asn Pro Pro Ser Tyr Arg Glu

50 55 60

GCA AAT GAG GAA TAT GCA AAG AGG CTG CGA GAA GTT GCG GAG AAG ATG 239 Ala Asn Glu Glu Tyr Ala Lys Arg Leu Arg Glu Val Ala Glu Lys Met

65 70 75

TTT AAG AGC TTA TCA CTT GGG CTT GGG TTA GAA GCC CAT GAA ATG ATG 287 Phe Lys Ser Leu Ser Leu Gly Leu Gly Leu Glu Ala His Glu Met Met 80 85 90 95

GAG GCA GCA GGT GGT GAA GAT ATA GTT TAC TTG TTG AAG ATC AAT TAT 335 Glu Ala Ala Gly Gly Glu Asp Ile Val Tyr Leu Leu Lys Ile Asn Tyr

100 105 110

TAC CCA CCA TGC CCA AGG CCT GAT TTG GCA CTT GGA GTT GTG GCC CAT 383 Tyr Pro Pro Cys Pro Arg Pro Asp Leu Ala Leu Gly Val Val Ala His

115 120 125

ACA GAC ATG TCC CAT ATA ACC ATT CTT GTC CCA AAT GAA GTC CAA GGC 431 rhr Asp Met Ser His Ile Thr Ile Leu Val Pro Asn Glu Val Gln Gly

130 135 140

CTC CAA GTC TTC AAG GAT GGC CAT TGG TAT GAT GTC AAC TAC ATA CCA 479 Leu Gln Val Phe Lys Asp Gly His Trp Tyr Asp Val Asn Tyr Ile Pro

145 150 155

AAT GCC CTA ATT GTC CAC ATT GGT GAC CAA CTT GAG ATC CTT AGC AAT 527 Asn Ala Leu Ile Val His Ile Gly Asp Gln Leu Glu Ile Leu Ser Asn 160 165 170 175

GGG AAA TAC AAG AGT GTG TAT CAT AGG ACA ACA GTG ACA AAG GAT AAG 575 Gly Lys Tyr Lys Ser Val Tyr His Arg Thr Thr Val Thr Lys Asp Lys

180 185 190

ACA AGA ATG TCA TGG CCA GTT TTC TTG GAG CCA CCA TCA GAG CAT GAA 623 Thr Arg Met Ser Trp Pro Val Phe Leu Glu Pro Pro Cer Glu His Glu

195 200 205

GTT GGG CCA ATT CCT AAG CTG GTT AAT GAG GCC AAT CCA CCC AAA TTC 671 Val Gly Pro Ile Pro Lys Leu Val Asn Glu Ala Asn Pro Pro Lys Phe

210 215 220 AAG ACC AAG AAG TAC AAG GAT TAT GTC TAT TGT AAG CTT AAC AAG CTT 719 Lys Thr Lys Lys Tyr Lys Asp Tyr Val Tyr Cys Lys Leu Asn Lys Leu

225 230 235

CCT CAG TGAAGAAACT CCTCTATATA TGTTTGGCAG CGATTAGCTA CTATATGTTC 775

Pro Gln

240

GTCAGTATTA TATTATGGTT TGTACTATCC TTACCAACAG ATGTCTTATT ATGATTAAGG 835

ACTATATATT TACACTTAAA ACTTTTTGAT ACTAGCTAAT AACTGACTTA TTAAG 890

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO : 3 :

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 236 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS : single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA (iii) HYPOTHETICAL: NO

(ix) FEATURE:

(A) NAME/KEY: CDS

(B) LOCATION: 1..135

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:3:

CCA GTA TTC TTG GAG CCA CCA TCA GAG CAT GAA GTA GGG CCA ATT TCT 48 Pro Val Phe Leu Glu Pro Pro Ser Glu His Glu Val Gly Pro Ile Ser

1 5 10 15

AAG CTG GTT AAT GAG GCC AAT CCA CCC AAA TTC AAG ACC AAG AAG TAC 96 Lys Leu Val Asn Glu Ala Asn Pro Pro Lys Phe Lys Thr Lys Lys Tyr

20 25 30

AAG GAT TAT GTT TAT TGT ΛΛG CTT AAC AAG CTT CCT CAG TGAAGAAACC 145 Lys Asp Tyr Val Tyr Cys Lys Leu Asn Lys Leu Pro Gln

35 40 45

CCTCTATATA TGTTTGGCAG CGAATAGCTA GTATATTCGT GAGTACTAAA TTATGGTTTG 205

TACTATCCTT ACCAAGAGAT GTCTTATTAT G 236 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 4:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 1236 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS : single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA (iii) HYPOTHETICAL: NO

(ix) FEATURE:

(A) NAME/KEY: CDS

(B) LOCATION: 70..1068

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 4:

GAATTCGGCA CGAGGTTAAA TCAAAAATAT AAAACAAACA AATAAATAAA TAAATAAATA 60

AATAAAAGT ATG GGC ATA TCT TCA GAA AGA GTA CAA AAC ATA GCC TTA 108

Met Gly Ile Ser Ser Glu Arg Val Gln Asn Ile Ala Leu 1 5 10

AAA TCC CAG AAC ATA GAC GAC ATT CCA CCC GAA TAC ATA AGA TTA GAG 156 Lys Ser Gln Asn Ile Asp Asp Ile Pro Pro Glu Tyr Ile Arg Leu Glu

15 20 25

GAT GAA CAA CCA GCA ATC ACA ACA GTC CTC GAC ACG GTT CTC GAG GTC 204 Asp Glu Gln Pro Ala Ile Thr Thr Val Leu Asp Thr Val Leu Glu Val 30 35 40 45

CCT GCG ATC GAC CTC AGC CTC GAG GAA GAC GAC GTT GTA AAA CTC GTC 252 Pro Ala Ile Asp Leu Ser Leu Glu Glu Asp Asp Val Val Lys Leu Val

50 55 60

TTG AGT GCA AGC AAA GAG TGG GGA CTG TTT CAG GTC ACC AAC CAC GGA 300 Leu Ser Ala Ser Lys Glu Trp Gly Leu Phe Gln Val Thr Asn His Gly

65 70 75

ATT CCG ACT GAA GTC ATT GAA AAA TTG CAA AAA GTC GGT AAG ATG TTT 348 Ile Pro Thr Glu Val Ile Glu Lys Leu Gln Lys Val Gly Lys Met Phe

80 85 90 TTT CGA GCT CCC GCA GAG GAG AAG GAG ACG ATT GCG AAA CCC GAG GGT 396 Phe Arg Ala Pro Ala Glu Glu Lys Glu Thr Ile Ala Lys Pro Glu Gly

95 100 105

GGT GTT GAA GGG TAT GGG ACC ATG TTG CAA AAG GAG ATT CAA GGG AGA 444 Gly Val Glu Gly Tyr Gly Thr Met Leu Gln Lys Glu Ile Gln Gly Arg

110 115 120 125

AAA GGT TGG GTT GAT CAT TTG TTT CAC AAG GTT TGG CCT CCT AGT GTT 492 Lys Gly Trp Val Asp His Leu Phe His Lys Val Trp Pro Pro Ser Val

130 135 140

ATT AAC TAC CAA TGG TGG CCT AAG ACT CCT TCT TAT AGG GAG GCG AAC 540 Ile Asn Tyr Gln Trp Trp Pro Lys Thr Pro Ser Tyr Arg Glu Ala Asn

145 150 155

GAA GAG TAC ACA AAG TAC CTA AGA ATA GTA GCC GAC AAG CTC TTC AAG 588 Glu Glu Tyr Thr Lys Tyr Leu Arg Ile Val Ala Asp Lys Leu Phe Lys

160 165 170

TGT ATG TCA AAG GGA CTT GGT TTA GAA GAA GAT GAA GTC AAA AAA TCA 636 Cys Met Ser Lys Gly Leu Gly Leu Glu Glu Asp Glu Val Lys Lys Ser

175 180 185

TGT GGC AAT GAA GAC ATA GTG TAC CTT CTC AAG ATC AAC TAC TAC CCG 684 Cys Gly Asn Glu Asp Ile Val Tyr Leu Leu Lys Ile Asn Tyr Tyr Pro

190 195 200 205

CCT TGT CCT CGA CCC GAC TTG GCT CTA GGG GTG GCC GCT CAC ACT GAC 732 Pro Cys Pro Arg Pro Asp Leu Ala Leu Gly Val Ala Ala His Thr Asp

210 215 220

TTG AGC GTC ATC ACC ATT CTT GTT CCG AAT GAT GTT GCC GGT CTT CAG 780 Leu Ser Val Ile Thr Ile Leu Val Pro Asn Asp Val Ala Gly Leu Gln

225 230 235

GTC TCT AGA GAC GGA CGT TGG TAC GAT GTC AAG TAC ATT CCT AAT GCA 828 Val Ser Arg Asp Gly Arg Trp Tyr Asp Val Lys Tyr Ile Pro Asn Ala

240 245 250

CTC ATC ATC CAC GTT GGT GAC CAA ATG GAG ATA ATG AGC AAT GGA GAG 876 Leu Ile Ile His Val Gly Asp Gln Met Glu Ile Met Ser Asn Gly Glu

255 260 265

TAC AAG GCG GTG CTT CAT AGG TCG ACA GTG AAC AAA GAA AGA ACA AGG 924 Tyr Lys Ala Val Leu His Arg Ser Thr Val Asn Lys Glu Arg Thr Arg 270 275 280 285 ATA TCG TGG CCC GTG TTC CTG GAA CCG CCA TCA GAC TTT GCA GTC GGG 972 Ile Ser Trp Pro Val Phe Leu Glu Pro Pro Ser Asp Phe Ala Val Gly

290 295 300

CCT ATT CCA AAG CTC ATT AGT GAT GAA AAG CCA GCC AAG TAT AAG ACG 1020 Pro Ile Pro Lys Leu Ile Ser Asp Glu Lys Pro Ala Lys Tyr Lys Thr

305 310 315

AAG GTG TTT TCC GAG TAC AAG TAT TGT AAG CTG AAC AAG CTA CCT ATG 1068 Lys Val Phe Ser Glu Tyr Lys Tyr Cys Lys Leu Asn Lys Leu Pro Met

320 325 330

TGAAGACTGA AGATGTTTAA TATTAGTCTT ATATGTTTAA TAAAGGCTAT TGTTGGTTAT 1128

CAGTTATCAC CTTGTTATTT GAATGTGCCA CTAAAATCAC TGTTAATTAA GGTGATATGG 1188

ATATATGATT TGTTCTCATT CATGTATGTT AAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAA 1236

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 5:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 1250 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS : single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA (iii) HYPOTHETICAL: NO

(ix) FEATURE:

(A) NAME/KEY: CDS

(B) LOCATION: 11..1065

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 5:

AGCACACACA ATG GAG GTG GAA AGA GTT CAA GAA ATA GCA ACA CTC TCA 49

Met Glu Val Glu Arg Val Gln Glu Ile Ala Thr Leu Ser

1 5 10

AAC CTA AAT GGC ACA ATC CCA AGT GAG TTC ATA AGA CTG GAA AAC GAA 97 Asn Leu Asn Gly Thr Ile Pro Ser Glu Phe Ile Arg Leu Glu Asn Glu

15 20 25 CAA CCA GCA ACG ACC ACT CTC CAT GGC GTC TTG TTG GAG GTT CCA GTG 145 Gln Pro Ala Thr Thr Thr Leu His Gly Val Leu Leu Glu Val Pro Val 30 35 40 45

ATC GAT CTT AGC CAG GCG GAT AAC GAA TCC TTG GTC GCT TTG ATA TCC 193 Ile Asp Leu Ser Gln Ala Asp Asn Glu Ser Leu Val Ala Leu Ile Ser

50 55 60

AAA GCG AGC AAG GAT TGG GGT ATT TTT CAA GTG GTG AAC CAT GGG ATA 241 Lys Ala Ser Lys Asp Trp Gly Ile Phe Gln Val Val Asn His Gly Ile

65 70 75

CCA AGT GAA CTC ATT AGC AAG TTA CAA AAT GTT GGA AAA GAG TTC TTT 289 Pro Ser Glu Leu Ile Ser Lys Leu Gln Asn Val Gly Lys Glu Phe Phe

80 85 90

GAG CTA CCA CAA GAA GAA AAA GAA GTC ATT GCT AAA CCA GAT GGT TAC 337 Glu Leu Pro Gln Glu Glu Lys Glu Val Ile Ala Lys Pro Asp Gly Tyr

95 100 105

AAA GGT GTT GAA GGG TAT GGA ACA AAG CTT CAA AAA GAA GTT CAA GGC 385 Lys Gly Val Glu Gly Tyr Gly Thr Lys Leu Gln Lys Glu Val Gln Gly

110 115 120 125

AAG AAA GGA TGG GTG GAT CAT TTG TTT CAT ATA GTT TGG CCA CCT TCT 433 Lys Lys Gly Trp Val Asp His Leu Phe His Ile Val Trp Pro Pro Ser

130 135 140

TTT ATT AAC TAT CAA TTT TGG CCA AAG AAC CCT CCT TCT TAC AGA GAT 481 Phe Ile Asn Tyr Gln Phe Trp Pro Lys Asn Pro Pro Ser Tyr Arg Asp

145 150 155

ACA AAT GAG GAA TAC ACA CAA AGC TTG ATA GGG GTG GCA AAT AAG TTG 529 Thr Asn Glu Glu Tyr Thr Gln Ser Leu Ile Gly Val Ala Asn Lys Leu

160 165 170

CTT GGG CTG TTG TCA AAA GGG CTT GGA CTG GAA GAA GAT GAA GTG AAG 577 Leu Gly Leu Leu Ser Lys Gly Leu Gly Leu Glu Glu Asp Glu Val Lys

175 180 185

CAA GCG TTG GGT GGC GAA GAC TTG ATC TAC ATG TTG AAA ATA AAC TAC 625 Gln Ala Leu Gly Gly Glu Asp Leu Ile Tyr Met Leu Lys Ile Asn Tyr 190 195 200 205

TAC CCA CCA TGT CCA TGC CCC GAG CTT GCT CTT GGG GTA GCC CCA CAT 673 Tyr Pro Pro Cys Pro Cys Pro Glu Leu Ala Leu Gly Val Ala Pro His

210 215 220 ACC GAC ATG TCT TCA ATC ACC ATA CTT GTC CCG AAT GAA GTT CAA GGT 721 Thr Asp Met Ser Ser Ile Thr Ile Leu Val Pro Asn Glu Val Gln Gly

225 230 235

CTA CAA GTC TTT AAA GAT GGT CAA TGG TAT GAT GTT GCT TAC ATT CCT 769 Leu Gln Val Phe Lys Asp Gly Gln Trp Tyr Asp Val Ala Tyr Ile Pro

240 245 250

AAT GCT CTC ATT ATT CAC ATT GGT GAC CAG ATT GAG ATA CTG AGC AAT 817 Asn Ala Leu Ile Ile His Ile Gly Asp Gln Ile Glu Ile Leu Ser Asn

255 260 265

GGA AAA TAT AAG AGT GTG TAT CAC AGA TCA ACT GTG AAT AAG GAG AAA 865 Gly Lys Tyr Lys Ser Val Tyr His Arg Ser Thr Val Asn Lys Glu Lys 270 275 280 285

ACA AGA ATG TCG TGG CCA GCA TTT TTG GAG CCA CCG CCA GAG TTT GAG 913 Thr Arg Met Ser Trp Pro Ala Phe Leu Glu Pro Pro Pro Glu Phe Glu

290 295 300

GTT GGT CCA ATT CCA AAG CTC GTC AAT AAA GAC GAT CCA CCA AAA TAC 961 Val Gly Pro Ile Pro Lys Leu Val Asn Lys Asp Asp Pro Pro Lys Tyr

305 310 315

AAG ACC AAG AAG TAC AAA GAC TAT GTC TAT TGC AAG CTA AAT AAG CTT 1009 Lys Thr Lys Lys Tyr Lys Asp Tyr Val Tyr Cys Lys Leu Asn Lys Leu

320 325 330

CCG CAG TGA GGG ATT TTA GAT ATT ATC TGC AAA CAT ATA TGT ATT TCT 1057 Pro Gln

335

GAA CGC AT GCGTGTGTAA GCTGTTGAGT TATTTGAATG TGGGATTGTA ATATGAGACT 1115

CTGATCGAAT TTAGTTCAAA GCTATATGAA CATACAATAA GAGGAGTAAC TCATTCATCC 1175

ACTTTGGCAT TTTCATCCTT TATATTCGAT ATTAGGTATG TATCATGCTT TACAAGGTAA 1235

AAAAAAAAAA AAAAA 1250 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 6:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 45 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS : single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: Oligonucleotide DNA (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 6:

GAGAGAGAGA GAGAGAGAGA TCTCGAGTTT TTTTTTTTTT TTTTT 45

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:7:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 26 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: Oligonucleotide DNA

(ix) FEATURE:

(A) (X,Y) = either X or Y

(B) I = inosine

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:7:

TGGGGIITTT T(T,C) (C,G) AIITI (A, G)T I(A,G)AICA 26 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 8:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 19 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: Oligonucleotide DNA

(ix) FEATURE:

(A) (X,Y) = either X or Y

(B) I = inosine

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO : 8 :

TI(A,G)TIAA(T,C)CA (T, C) GGI (A, T) TICC 19

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO : 9 :

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 26 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: Oligonucleotide DNA

(ix) FEATURE:

(A) (X,Y) = either X or Y

(B) I = inosine

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO : 9 :

GGI(T,C)TITT(T,C) (C,G) A(A, G) ITI (A, G) TIAA (T, C) CA(T, C) GG 26 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 10:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 20 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: Oligonucleotide DNA

(ix) FEATURE:

(A) (X,Y) = either X or Y

(B) I = inosine

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 10:

GG(T,C)TTIGG(A,G)C AIGGIGG(A,G) TA 20

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 11:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 20 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: Oligonucleotide DNA

(ix) FEATURE:

(A) (X,Y) = either X or Y

(B) I = inosine

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 11:

GG(A,G)CAIGGIG G (A, G) TA(A, G) TA(A, G) TT 20 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 12:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 20 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: Oligonucleotide DNA (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 12:

GGACAAGGAG GATAATAATT 20

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 13:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 18 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: Oligonucleotide DNA (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: - SEQ ID NO:13:

ATCAGAGTAC ATTAGGTC 18

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 14:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 19 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: Oligonucleotide DNA (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 14:

GTCCCAAATG AAGTCCAAG 19 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 15:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 18 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: Oligonucleotide DNA (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 15:

TTCTTCGTTT GCTTCCCT 18

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 16:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 34 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: Oligonucleotide DNA (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 16:

CTAGGTACCG GGCCCAAAGG ATCCTCTAGA GTAC 34

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. An isolated nucleic acid molecule comprising a sequence of nucleotides encoding or complementary to a sequence encoding a flavonol synthase (FLS) or a functional mutant, derivative part, fragment, homologue or analogue of said FLS.

2. An isolated nucleic acid molecule according to claim 1 wherein said nucleic acid is DNA.

3. An isolated nucleic acid molecule according to claim 1 or 2 wherein the plant is selected from the group consisting of petunia, snapdragon, tobacco, rose, carnation, chrysanthemum, lisianthus, cyclamen, parsley and grape.

4. An isolated nucleic acid molecule according to claim 3 wherein the plant is selected from the group consisting of petunia, tobacco, carnation and chrysanthemum.

5. An isolated nucleic acid molecule according to claim 4 having a nucleotide sequence or complementary nucleotide sequence which comprises the sequence substantially as set forth in SEQ ID No:1 or having at least 50% similarity to all or a part thereof.

6. An isolated nucleic acid molecule according to claim 4 having a nucleotide sequence or complementary nucleotide sequence which comprises the sequence substantially as set forth in SEQ ID No:2 or having at least 50% similarity to all or a part thereof.

7. An isolated nucleic acid molecule according to claim 4 having a nucleotide sequence or complementary nucleotide sequence which comprises the sequence substantially as set forth in SEQ ID No:3 or having at least 50% similarity to all or a part thereof.

8. An isolated nucleic acid molecule according to claim 4 having a nucleotide sequence or complementary nucleotide sequence which comprises the sequence substantially as set forth in SEQ ID No:4 or having at least 50% similarity to all or a part thereof.

9. An isolated nucleic acid molecule according to claim 4 having a nucleotide sequence or complementary nucleotide sequence which comprises the sequence substantially as set forth in SEQ ID No:5 or having at least 50% similarity to all or a part thereof.

10. An isolated DNA molecule comprising a sequence of nucleotides which (i) encodes a FLS of plant origin; and

(ii) has at least 50% nucleotide sequence similarity to the sequence set forth in SEQ ID No: 1.

11. An isolated DNA molecule according to claim 10 having a nucleotide sequence substantially as set forth in SEQ ID No:1.

12. An isolated DNA molecule according to claim 10 having a nucleotide sequence substantially as set forth in SEQ ID No:2.

13. An isolated DNA molecule according to claim 10 having a nucleotide sequence substantially as set forth in SEQ ID No: 3.

14. An isolated DNA molecule according to claim 10 having a nucleotide sequence substantially as set forth in SEQ ID No:4.

15. An isolated DNA molecule according to claim 10 having a nucleotide sequence substantially as set forth in SEQ ID No:5.

16. An isolated nucleic acid molecule which:

(i) encodes a FLS of plant origin; and

(ii) hybridises under low stringency conditions to the nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID No:1 or to a complementary strand thereof.

17. An isolated nucleic acid molecule according to claim 16 having a nucleotide sequence substantially as set forth in SEQ ID No:1.

18. An isolated nucleic acid molecule according to claim 16 having a nucleotide sequence substantially as set forth in SEQ ID No:2.

19. An isolated nucleic acid molecule according to claim 16 having a nucleotide sequence substantially as set forth in SEQ ID No:3.

20. An isolated nucleic acid molecule according to claim 16 having a nucleotide sequence substantially as set forth in SEQ ID No:4.

21. An isolated nucleic acid molecule according to claim 16 having a nucleotide sequence substantially as set forth in SEQ ID No:5.

22. A vector comprising the nucleic acid molecule according to claim 1 or 10 or 16.

23. A vector according to claim 22 wherein the nucleic acid molecule is operably linked to a promoter.

24. A vector according to claim 23 capable of replication and expression in a eukaryotic cell.

25. A vector according to claim 23 capable of replication and expression in a prokaryotic cell.

26. An oligonucleotide capable of hybridising under low stringency conditions to part of the nucleotide sequence or its complementary form set forth in at least one of the sequences selected from the list consisting of SEQ ID No:l, SEQ ID No:2, SEQ ID No:3, SEQ ID No:4 and SEQ ID No:5.

27. A transgenic plant carrying a non-indigenous genetic sequence encoding a FLS.

28. A transgenic plant according to claim 27 wherein the genetic sequence is capable of expression and said expression is optionally regulatable.

29. A transgenic plant according to claim 28 wherein the expression is developmentally regulated.

30. A transgenic plant according to claim 27 or 28 wherein the FLS is from a plant selected from the group consisting of petunia, snapdragon, tobacco, rose, carnation, chrysanthemum, lisianthus, cyclamen, parsley and grape.

31. A transgenic plant according to claim 27 or 28 wherein the FLS is from a plant selected from the group consisting of petunia, tobacco, carnation and chrysanthemum.

32. A transgenic plant according to claim 27 or 28 wherein said plant is selected from the group consisting of petunia, rose, carnation, chrysanthemum, gerbera, tobacco, lisianthus, lily, iris and pelargonium.

33. A transgenic plant according to claim 27 or 28 wherein the FLS is encoded by a nucleotide sequence substantially as set forth in SEQ ID No: 1 or having at least 50% similarity thereto.

34. A transgenic plant according to claim 27 or 28 wherein the FLS is encoded by a nucleotide sequence substantially as set forth in SEQ ID No:2 or having at least 50% similarity to all or a part thereof.

35. A transgenic plant according to claim 27 or 28 wherein the FLS is encoded by a nucleotide sequence substantially as set forth in SEQ ID No:3 or having at least 50% similarity to all or a part thereof.

36. A transgenic plant according to claim 27 or 28 wherein the FLS is encoded by a nucleotide sequence substantially as set forth in SEQ ID No:4 or having at least 50% similarity to all or a part thereof.

37. A transgenic plant according to claim 27 or 28 wherein the FLS is encoded by a nucleotide sequence substantially as set forth in SEQ ID No:5 or having at least 50% similarity to all or a part thereof.

38. A transgenic plant selected from the group consisting of petunia, rose, carnation, chrysanthemum, gerbera, tobacco, lisianthus, lily, iris and pelargonium carrying a non-indigenous genetic sequence encoding a FLS, said genetic sequence optionally capable of being expressed and wherein said FLS is encoded by a DNA molecule comprising a DNA strand capable of hybridising under low stringency conditions to a nucleic acid molecule comprising all or part of the sequence of nucleotides set forth in at least one of SEQ ID No:1, SEQ ID No:2, SEQ ID No:3, SEQ ID No:4 and SEQ ID No:5.

39. A method for producing a transgenic flowering plant capable of exhibiting altered in florescence properties, said method comprising introducing into a cell of a suitable plant the nucleic acid molecule according to claim 1 or 10 or 16, regenerating a transgenic plant from the cell and growing said transgenic plant for a time and under conditions sufficient to permit expression of the nucleic acid sequence into FLS.

40. A method according to claim 39 wherein the transgenic plant is selected from the group consisting of petunia, rose, carnation, chrysanthemum, gerbera, tobacco, lisianthus, lily, iris and pelargonium.

41. A method according to claim 40 wherein the introduced nucleic acid is DNA and encodes FLS having the nucleotide sequence substantially as set forth in at least one of the sequences selected from the list consisting of SEQ ID No:1, SEQ ID No:2, SEQ ID No:3, SEQ ID No:4 and SEQ ID No:5.

42. A method for producing a transgenic flowering plant capable of exhibiting altered inflorescence properties, said method comprising introducing into a cell of a plant carrying an indigenous FLS, the nucleic acid according to any one of claims 1 or 10 or 16 under conditions to induce co-suppression of said indigenous FLS.

43. A method according to claim 42 wherein the transgenic plant is selected from the list consisting of petunia, rose, carnation, chrysanthemum, gerbera, tobacco, lisianthus, lily, iris and pelargonium.

44. A method according to claim 43 wherein the introduced nucleic acid is DNA and encodes FLS and has the nucleotide sequence substantially as set forth in at least one of the sequences selected from the list consisting of SEQ ID No: 1, SEQ ID No:2, SEQ ID No:3, SEQ ID No:4 and SEQ ID No:5.