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/

Petunia Functional Genomics Platform (dTph1)

Transposon insertion mutagenesis remains one of the methods of choice to obtain mutants in hitherto unknown genes or in genes of interest. The cloning of the endogenous small non-autonomous dTph1 transposable element (Gerats et al., 1990) opened the way for insertion mutagenesis approaches in Petunia. Since this is a natural system, the obtained mutants are non-transgenic and therefore their use is not constrained by GMO regulations.

The Vandenbussche lab (ENS Lyon) has developed an efficient approach to mass-amplify and sequence transposon flanking sequences (TFS), identifying insertion loci across large populations. Their current collection covers around 400,000 sequenced independent insertion loci in the Petunia genome — enabling identification of multiple independent null alleles for >80% of genes.

Collaboration offer

For interested parties, the group offers collaborations involving:

  • Screening the TFS database for knockout mutants in your gene(s) of interest
  • Growing positive lines and genotyping individuals
  • Seeds of confirmed homozygous/heterozygous/WT W138 individuals
  • Full documentation: alignment of genomic sequence, coding sequence and flanking sequence showing exact insert position
  • Optional F1 cross with another variety (e.g. Mitchell) to speed up research
  • PCR primer pairs for your own segregation analysis

Contact: michiel.vandenbussche@ens-lyon.fr

FAQ

dTph1 insertions in exons vs non-coding regions

Because dTph1 contains stop codons in all reading frames in both orientations, exon insertions usually guarantee a null-mutation. For insertions in non-coding regions (promoter, 5'UTR, intron, 3'UTR), testing the effect on transcription levels is essential. Exon insertions are generally far more useful and effective.

Will the mutation be lost because the transposon keeps jumping?

No. Excision does occur, but never at a frequency that risks losing the mutation. For homozygous mutants, both chromosomal copies would need to excise simultaneously. For exon insertions, excision most frequently leaves a frameshift footprint, maintaining the mutation.

Is the W138 insertion line transformable?

Not directly. However, F1 hybrids between W138 and e.g. V26 or Mitchell are very easy to transform and yield highly fertile, vigorous plant material.

Independent proof of gene function when only one insertion allele is available

CRISPR/Cas9: Works efficiently in Petunia and can independently confirm phenotypes observed in homozygous insertion mutants.

Complementation: Cross W138 insertion line with Mitchell or V26 before transforming with a complementation construct.

Revertant approach: Rare excision events that restore the reading frame can provide phenotypic reversion as functional proof.

Applications

Basic research & horticulture: Non-transgenic mutants can be directly used for crossing with commercial Petunia varieties to introduce valuable traits (growth habit, plant architecture, floral architecture).

Solanaceae model: Petunia belongs to the Solanaceae (potato, tomato, pepper, eggplant). Gene function findings may translate more directly to these crop species than findings from more distantly related models.

Testing conservation of gene function: Arabidopsis and Petunia represent the two major eudicot groups (rosids and asterids) thought to have diverged ~100 million years ago. Comparison allows estimation of the antiquity of gene function across a deep evolutionary timescale.

Key references

  • Gerats et al. (1990). Molecular characterization of a nonautonomous transposable element (dTph1) of petunia. Plant Cell 2, 1121–1128.
  • Koes et al. (1995). Targeted gene inactivation in petunia by PCR-based selection of transposon insertion mutants. PNAS 92, 8149–8153.
  • Van den Broeck et al. (1998). Transposon Display identifies individual transposable elements in high copy number lines. Plant Journal 13, 121–129.
  • Vandenbussche et al. (2003). Toward the analysis of the petunia MADS box gene family by reverse and forward transposon insertion mutagenesis approaches. Plant Cell 15, 2680–2693.
  • Vandenbussche et al. (2008). Generation of a 3D indexed Petunia insertion database for reverse genetics. Plant J 54, 1105–1114.