Genetic transformation and molecular research in Anthurium: progress and prospects

Although Anthurium is an attractive and commercially popular ornamental plant, its genetic enhancement has lagged behind that of other ornamental crops. There are several agronomically important traits in need of improvement. These include novel flower colors and morphologies, increased shelf and vase lives, and resistance to bacterial blight (Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. dieffenbachiae), burrowing nematodes and abiotic stresses. The production of transgenic Anthuriums is critical because the conventional breeding of a cultivar with beneficial traits typically requires 8–10 years. This review evaluates the problems, challenges and progress associated with developing molecular markers for Anthurium and in genetically transforming this ornamental. Recent improvements have hastened the tissue culture and regeneration of transgenic plants primarily using Agrobacterium-based methods. Promoter analyses have focused on constitutive and tissue-enhanced gene expression with the green fluorescent protein being a more reliable reporter than β-glucuronidase. The development of molecular markers assists with phylogenetic analyses and PCR-based markers such as RAPD, SSR, SPAR, ISSR and AFLP can be used to differentiate cultivars and for genetic fingerprinting. The marker-assisted breeding of Anthurium will become more feasible once available data are used for association to specific traits. Work on the identification of quantitative trait loci for disease resistance and other traits such as flower colour is required and should incorporate new approaches, such as next-generation sequencing technologies. By highlighting the aforementioned bottlenecks and successes in this review, it is expected that the pace of Anthurium genetic improvement will increase with the multifaceted incorporation of focused priorities and new technology advancements.