Many flowers are colored by a pigment called anthocyanin. Discovery of a new protein that increases the efficiency of the production of anthocyanin to darken the color of flowers was achieved by NIBB’s Dr. Yasumasa Morita and Asst. Prof. Atsushi Hoshino as a collaborative effort with the Suntory Global Innovation Center Ltd. and the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO). These results were published in “The Plant Journal” on March 14.

Mutant morning glory without EFP protein (left) Wild type morning glory (right)

Asst. Prof. Atsushi Hoshino (NIBB), Dr. Yasumasa Morita (NIBB)、Dr. Yoshikazu Tanaka (Suntory)