Stopping to smell the roses might be a letdown — and now researchers know why.
The sweet-smelling flowers craft their scent using a surprising enzyme, previously thought to help prune genetic errors, researchers report July 3 in Science. That enzyme — and potent aroma — is missing in many roses bred for dazzling color and long-lasting blooms. The finding could help scientists solve the thorny problem of scentless blossoms.
“Usually, the first thing that people do when they get [a rose] is smell it,” says plant biochemist Philippe Hugueney of INRA, the National Institute for Agricultural Research in Colmar, France. “Most of the time it’s not scented and it’s very disappointing,” he says.