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ORANGE trees that bear fruit just one year after they germinate have been
created by researchers in Spain. Normally citrus plants take at least 6 years to
reach maturity and produce fruit. José Martínez-Zapater from the
Independent University of Madrid and his colleagues accelerated the development
of citrange orange trees by giving them a flower-regulating gene from the
well-studied plant Arabidopsis. The trees raced through their juvenile
phase and flowered in their first spring (Nature Biotechnology, vol 19,
p 263). Because citrus plants normally mature so slowly, it hasn’t been
practical to breed hybrids, as happens with other crop plants. Now farmers will
be able to use the fast developers to produce crosses with desired
characteristics, such as being resistant to viruses or easy to peel.