Earlier this month, Light Bio, an innovative synthetic biology startup based in Kechestum, Idaho, USA, announced that it had begun selling its groundbreaking bioluminescent plant, Firefly Petunias, in the United States. The flowers appear white during the day and can fluoresce at night.
The result is a team of 26 scientists who used DNA obtained from mushrooms to create plants that continuously emit light. These researchers revealed a striking similarity between mushroom bioluminescence and plant metabolism, allowing for more visible light than before.
Firefly petunia grows, does not require special soil or nutrients, and uses caffeic acid molecules in its plants to promote a luminescence reaction, and terrestrial plants also happen to produce caffeic acid. By inserting the mushroom gene into the petunia, the researchers enabled the plant to produce enzymes that convert caffeic acid into the luminescent molecule fluorescein, which then ** back to caffeic acid, resulting in sustained bioluminescence.
At present, in the U.S. market, it is already possible to make reservations for firefly petunias, which is 29 US dollars a pot, about 208 yuan, and the first batch of 50,000 pots of firefly petunias began to be shipped in April this year.
In China, there are similar large luminescent plants that have been successfully cultivated, and small indoor luminescent plants may be in the process of being cultivated, but have not yet been circulated in the market.