Resources

Tools, references and community resources for petunia research

Protocols

Standard laboratory protocols used in Petunia research, contributed by members of the Petunia Platform community. Click any protocol to download.

Want to contribute a protocol? Send it to petuniaplatform@gmail.com

AMBER & GOLD: Betaxanthin Reporter Plasmids

Betaxanthin production in Petunia flowers

Polycistronic genes for betaxanthin production in plants. These plasmids enable visible yellow/orange colour production as reporters in Petunia and other species — useful for transformation screening and gene expression studies.

Available plasmids (Addgene)

Reference

Desnoyer N, Hill L, Youles M, Kamoun S (2026). AMBER and GOLD: Polycistronic Genes for Betaxanthin Production in Plants. bioRxiv 2026.01.14.699277.
https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.01.14.699277

Browse all plasmids from this article on Addgene →

The Petunia Monograph

In 1984, when the first edition of the Petunia monograph was published, Petunia was well-positioned as a classical model system set to contribute significantly to the explosion in plant molecular biology. Its strength was fostered by years of physiological, biochemical, genetic and cytogenetic research — contributions of early workers who saw the value and promise of this horticulturally significant representative of the Solanaceae.

The present (second) edition encapsulates the state of Petunia-based research a quarter of a century later. It paints a rich portrait of progress, particularly but not exclusively in evolutionary and developmental biology. The wealth of knowledge presented here, and the continued promise of Petunia as a research system, both follow from a combination of that solid early work, the amenability of Petunia to molecular analysis, and the dedication and collegiality of the Petunia research community.

The monograph is written for plant scientists, researchers and academics working in plant development, evolution, physiology and genetics.

Petunia: Evolutionary, Developmental and Physiological Genetics

Tom Gerats and Judy Strommer (eds.) — Springer Life Sciences
2nd edition, 2009 · XXII, 450 pages · 97 illustrations
ISBN 978-0-387-84795-5

📄 Download 1st edition (PDF, 69 MB)
📄 Preface (2nd edition)  ·  📄 Table of Contents  ·  📄 Sample chapter
🛒 Buy on Springer.com

The Petunia Genome

A milestone for Petunia research: the genome sequences of Petunia axillaris and Petunia inflata have been publicly released. These two wild species are the parental species that largely contributed to modern Petunia hybrida cultivars. Resulting from the joint efforts of the Petunia Platform community, these genome sequences now strongly facilitate Petunia research and breeding.

Key publication

Bombarely et al. (2016). Insight into the evolution of the Solanaceae from the parental genomes of Petunia hybrida. Nature Plants 2, 16074.
http://www.nature.com/articles/nplants201674 (open access)

Genome browsers & BLAST

Petunia genome browsers and BLAST search are available through the Sol Genomics Network (SGN):
https://solgenomics.net/