ANEUPLOIDY IN LILY BREEDING

Unlike euploids which containing one or several whole chromosome sets, aneuploids can have chromosome numbers either greater or smaller than their euploids.
Species of lilies are diploid (2n = 2x = 24). They are the source of modern lily cultivars.
When you check chromosome numbers of commercial lily cultivars, you can also observe that many of them are triploid (2n = 3x = 36) or tetraploid (2n = 4x = 48). Numerous cases of lily hybridization show that it is not so difficult to obtain aneuploid lilies when you hybridize triploids with diploid/tetraploids, i.e., 3x × 2x/4x, though triploid lilies are usually male sterile.
This is different from other polygonum-type plants in which 3x × 2x/4x crosses usually produce diploid or tetraploid.
The reason for the difference is that endosperm of 3x × 2x/4x is euploid (7x/8x) in Lilium due to the Fritillaria-type embryo sac.
The aneuploids could generate many variations in morphological and biological traits, and lily can be multiplied with tissue culture and scaling.
Therefore, aneuploids can be a potential in lily breeding.

III International Symposium on the Genus Lilium

S. Zhou

Lilium, aneuploid, interploid crosses, triploid, embryo, endosperm

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2014.1027.15