Expression of genes encoding protein kinases during flower opening in two cut rose cultivars with different longevity

Ethylene plays an important role in wide-ranging aspects of plant growth and development, including fruit ripening, leaf and flower senescence. In this study, the expression patterns of two genes involved in the ethylene signal transduction pathway (RhCTR1 and RhCTR2) were investigated during the flower opening stages in two Rosa hybrida cultivars, ‘Black magic’ and ‘Maroussia’, which are characterized by short and long vase lives, respectively. RhCTR1 expression increased significantly during flower opening in both cultivars, but its expression level in cv. Maroussia was significantly higher than that in cv. Black magic. No variation in gene expression was detected for RhCTR2 in both cultivars. Therefore, this study showed that the vase life of the two cultivars correlated with the expression of RhCTR1, but not with that of RhCTR2, the behavior of which is typical of a constitutive gene.