Articles
STRATEGIES FOR LILIUM PROPAGATION: TRADITION VS. BIOTECH
Article number
900_44
Pages
347 – 355
Language
English
Abstract
The genus Lilium is widely used in the flower industry for the production of cut flower stems and potted plants; it is also well known as a garden plant.
The wide utilization is also due to the good propagation aptitude, both gamic and agamic, that these species display.
Lily seeds display two ways of germination: epigeal seeds germinate immediately after sowing and the cotyledon emerges from the ground, in hypogeal seeds the bulb develops first, remaining underground, and only afterwards the true leaf emerges from the ground.
This germination is usually controlled by dormancy which breaks only after the seed has been exposed to cold/warm treatments.
Vegetative propagation is facilitated by the high regeneration potential shown by all plant tissues.
It is possible to propagate lilies vegetatively in three ways: by using bulbils from the stem, from bulblets around the stem base and from scales.
The last method gives the largest quantity of new plants.
Vegetative propagation is also possible by hormonal stimulation of tissues to undergo differentiation of shoot or bulbs.
Furthermore, bulbous plants, like lilies, have proven to be ideal for tissue culture, as their regeneration potential is usually high.
The compact structure of the shoot makes them easy to handle in both solid and liquid cultures.
Nowadays, lilies are one of the most important bulbous crops produced in tissue culture also on industrial scale.
Combining the benefits of mass production and fast regeneration of uniform plant material in tissue culture is a necessity for the future breeding and culture of lilies.
However, to make tissue culture a commercially relevant production system, protocols need to be improved evaluating automation through the more suitable bioreactor type.
The wide utilization is also due to the good propagation aptitude, both gamic and agamic, that these species display.
Lily seeds display two ways of germination: epigeal seeds germinate immediately after sowing and the cotyledon emerges from the ground, in hypogeal seeds the bulb develops first, remaining underground, and only afterwards the true leaf emerges from the ground.
This germination is usually controlled by dormancy which breaks only after the seed has been exposed to cold/warm treatments.
Vegetative propagation is facilitated by the high regeneration potential shown by all plant tissues.
It is possible to propagate lilies vegetatively in three ways: by using bulbils from the stem, from bulblets around the stem base and from scales.
The last method gives the largest quantity of new plants.
Vegetative propagation is also possible by hormonal stimulation of tissues to undergo differentiation of shoot or bulbs.
Furthermore, bulbous plants, like lilies, have proven to be ideal for tissue culture, as their regeneration potential is usually high.
The compact structure of the shoot makes them easy to handle in both solid and liquid cultures.
Nowadays, lilies are one of the most important bulbous crops produced in tissue culture also on industrial scale.
Combining the benefits of mass production and fast regeneration of uniform plant material in tissue culture is a necessity for the future breeding and culture of lilies.
However, to make tissue culture a commercially relevant production system, protocols need to be improved evaluating automation through the more suitable bioreactor type.
Publication
Authors
B. Ruffoni, C. Mascarello, M. Savona
Keywords
lily, seed germination, dormancy, tissue culture
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