Modern rose hybrids have a worrying lack of genetic diversity

[sl8]

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2428026-modern-rose-hybrids-have-a-worrying-lack-of-genetic-diversity/

Modern rose hybrids have a worrying lack of genetic diversity

Intensive breeding since the 19th century has created thousands of varieties of rose, but a reduction in genetic diversity could leave them vulnerable to diseases and climate change

By James Woodford
25 April 2024

Modern commercial roses have lost over a quarter of their genetic diversity compared with older varieties, which could leave them vulnerable to diseases or climate change.

Roses have been admired and grown since antiquity, when people in Asia and Europe began cultivating ancient varieties from a dozen wild rose species. There were less than 100 varieties before 1800, but by 1900 there were around 8000 varieties of crossed Asian and European roses. Now, there are as many as 35,000.

To reconstruct the genetic history of roses, Thibault Leroy at the University of Angers, France, and his colleagues sequenced 15 varieties, including ancient European and ancient Asian cultivars, early Asian-European hybrids and hybrid tea roses.

[...]

[jmbar2]

1. Years ago, I was deeply into rose gardening

There used to be a massive rose industry in California that grew scented red bouquet roses.

Beginning in the 1960s Kennedy administration, economists trying to help South American poor economies encouraged rose cultivation. They bred hybrids that could be shipped long distances, but it caused their scents to disappear.

Then, to combat illegal drugs, the U.S. Congress enacted the Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA) in 1991. The law offered duty-free access to a wide range of exports from Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru and
Colombia. This pretty much doomed the domestic industry, and scented roses. Now, most of the roses in the grocery stores and florists are from these nations and have no scent.

In 1999, I got one of the remaining rose bushes from the farm that was the last one to grow scented bouquet roses, and nurtured it for years, taking cuttings and trying to preserve it. Unfortunately, I had to leave them behind when I sold my house and moved from Texas to Oregon.

Those roses were a bit smaller than current popular bouquet red roses and probably wouldn't sell as well, but they had a fabulous fragrance, long thornless stems, and lasted forever in the vase.

I still miss them.

Thanks for the article. Interesting to see how the story continues to evolve.

[sl8]

2. Thanks, that's pretty interesting. nt