The present invention constitutes a new and distinct variety of Rosa damascena which originated from a breeding program employing mutation induction technology coupled with tissue culture technology. Research and first propagation were carried out at a research greenhouse and trial station in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Unpatented, proprietary mother plants of Rosa damascena were collected Oct. 2, 2011. Explants of the same were successfully initiated, established and proliferated in vitro using tissue culture technology. The cultures were irradiated with 5 different doses of gamma rays (10Gy, 20Gy, 30Gy, 40Gy, 50Gy, 70Gy) in mid 2012, and a total of over 5000 putative mutants were obtained in the M1V3 generation. The rooted population was grown to adult plants and then established in the field for evaluations.
The mutant ‘KACST491-1’ was selected as a single plant on 25 Apr. 2014 from the population of 5000 putative mutants established in the field at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The new mutant variety ‘KACST491-1’ can be distinguished from its non-irradiated parent primarily from its flower coloration and growth habit. Tissue culture as well as asexual reproduction by cuttings of ‘KACST491-1’ was carried out in mid 2014 at a research laboratory in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The initial and other subsequent propagations have demonstrated that the characteristics of ‘KACST491-1’ are true to type and are transmitted from one generation to the next.