"The grass withereth, the flower fadeth," wrote the prophet Isaiah, but that was before Leeds University set up its institute of plant biotechnology and agriculture.
Researchers there announced yesterday that they had identified a hormone-producing gene which enabled cut flowers to last in a vase for six months.
The breakthrough has come in a study by Peter Meyer and Elena Zubko, involving plant mechanisms which counteract ageing and control shoot production.
The newly identified gene produces hormones called cy tokinins which do both tasks, and which may be susceptible to artificial control.
The Leeds team now plans to study potential ways of turning on and off the gene, which would have implications for both agriculture and the restoration of green landscapes like the tropical rainforest.
Professor Meyer said: "The gene we've identified could help maintain vegetables in prime condition during transportation, which is specially important for developing nations where enough food is grown but bad infrastructure prevents it reaching the consumer in time."
