Genetic Improvement of Carnation

Carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus L.) is a leading commercial crop in floriculture enterprise. It is an important cut flower excellently used in bedding, pots, borders, edging, rock gardens, bouquets, and decorations. However, this flower crop is adversely affected by several biotic (bacterial wilt, bacterial leaf spot, aphid, thrips) and abiotic (drought, salt) stresses which affects the plant growth leading to poor flower quality and reduced yield. To cope with these stresses, plants develop a variety of defensive mechanisms at the physiological, biochemical, and molecular levels and improve adaptation to adverse environmental conditions. As a result, understanding these stress conditions can aid in the development of new carnation varieties. Previously, various conventional and breeding approaches were used to improve carnation. However, being a vegetatively propagated crop, the gene pool is limited and has less chances of flower breeding. This makes carnation an ideal candidate for genetic engineering that has the potential to speed up the development of novel genotypes and broadening the available gene pool. Genetic engineering is the alternative way for varietal development and improvement of flower fragrance, shape, color, biotic, and abiotic stress resistance by incorporating the desirable novel traits. This chapter provides explicit information on recent advances in carnation through genetic engineering and genome editing tools.