Asiatic Hybrid Research Articles

Effect of size of bulb, growing conditions and depth of planting on flower and bulb production of Asiatic hybrid lily (Lilium spp) cv. Brunello

In present study on flower and bulb production of Asiatic hybrid lily (Lilium spp) cv. Brunello, the response of size of bulb, growing conditions and depth of planting were tested. Field experiment was conducted in CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, Palampur during 2008-2010. The bulbs were planted at spacing 15×15 cm row to row and bulb to bulb in November. The results have been explained on the basis of mean data of two years and indicated that among the different size of bulb, showed maximum length of flower shoot and number of flower buds/ shoot (69.90 cm and 7.34 respectively) in 5.30 cm diameter of bulb with the depth of 12.50 cm planting. The maximum yield of bulbs and bulblets were recorded in 5.30 cm diameter bulbs were planted at 17.50 cm depth under shade net conditions.

Genetic variability and diversity of the main resources of lily assessed via phenotypic characters, pollen morphology, and ISSR markers.

Lily (Lilium spp), which belongs to Lilium, is one kind of monocotyledon. As a perennial ornamental plant with extremely high esthetic, edible, and medicinal value, lily has gained much favor due to its mostly showy flowers of various colors and elegant shape. In this research, we studied experimental materials in a sample of 49 individuals including 40 cultivars, nine species of wild lily, and their variants. The collection of 40 cultivars covered all six hybrids in the genus, i.e., Asiatic hybrids, Oriental hybrids, Longiflorum hybrids, LA hybrids, LO hybrids, and OT hybrids. Genetic diversity and inter-relationships were assessed through analysis of phenotypic characteristics, pollen morphology, and ISSR molecular markers. Quantitative characters were selected to analyze phenotypic variation, with results indicating greater variability in petiole length as compared to other characters. Pollen morphological observations suggested that the largest variation coefficient between all hybrids and wild species was the lumina. ISSR makers demonstrated that both cultivars and wild species possess a high level of genetic diversity. Specifically, the genetic diversity of wild lily was higher than cultivars.

Development ofin vitropropagation protocol andgusexpression studies on Asiatic lily hybrids (Liliumspp.)

In vitro propagation experiments were carried out to study the effect of media, genotype and explant on micropropagation in three cultivars (Prato, Brunello and Dreamland) of Asiatic Lilium hybrids MS basal medium supplemented with 1 mg/l NAA induced best culture establishment and bulblet multiplication in all the three cultivars of Asiatic hybrid of Lilium. Best rooting of in vitro derived bulblets was recorded in modified MS medium supplemented with 1 mg/l NAA and 90 g/1sucrose. The potting mixture of vermiculite + FYM (1:1) proved to be the best for transplantation survival of plantlets. Gus expression varied between 20.2–24.9% in these three Lilium cultivars. The surviving explant tissues failed to exhibit the gus gene expression four weeks after transfer and all of the explant tissues became brown and died by four weeks after transfer, presumably due to minimal integration of T-DNA into the Lilium genome.

Evaluation of Asiatic hybrid lily varieties under Bhubaneswar condition

HIND AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING INSTITUTE ABSTRACT : An experiment was carried out for evaluation of five Asiatic hybrid lily varieties viz., New Wave (V 1 ), Orange Matrix (V 2 ), Alaska (V 3 ), Nov Cento (V 4 ) and Mount Negro (V 5 ) to assess their performance with respect to growth, flowering and bulb production during 2012-13 at the Department of Floriculture and Landscaping, OUAT, Bhubaneswar. The genotype under study showed significant variation for different characters. The analysed data indicated that the variety Nov Cento recorded significantly maximum plant height (26.16 cm) as compared to others, whereas the minimum was recorded in Orange Matrix (13.16 cm). Similarly maximum number of leaves per plant (108.04) was recorded in Mount Negro (V 5 ), maximum leaf length (5.18 cm) and width (1.72 cm) in Alaska (V 3 ), numbers of flower bud per shoot (4.17) in Mount Negro, flower width and length (17.83 cm and 11.60 cm, respectively) in Orange Matrix (V 2 ), on the other hand the minimum number of leaves per plant (36.71) was recorded in Orange Matrix (V 2 ), leaf length (2.84 cm) and width (0.76cm) in New Wave and Mount Negro, respectively, numbers of flower bud per shoot (1.52) in Orange Matrix (V 2 ), flower width and length (14.27cm and 8.61 cm, respectively) in Mount Negro (V 5 ). Variety Mount Negro (V 5 ) was the earliest (20.00 days) to produce flower bud whereas Orange Matrix was latest (30.0days). Variety Mount Negro (V 5 ) was found earliest to bud break from planting (44.48 days) and from appearance of flower bud (24.62 days). Whereas the maximum days ware recorded in Orange Matrix (57.87 days) to bud break from planting and in New wave (30.17 days) to bud break from appearance of flower bud.

Lily Cultivars Have Allelopathic Potential in Controlling Orobanche aegyptiaca Persoon.

As a devastating holoparasitic weed, Orobanche aegyptiaca Persoon. (Egyptian broomrape) causes serious damage to agricultural production and threatens economic development, which has raised widespread concern. The present study was conducted to determine whether lilies have the potential to be used as ‘trap crops’ for controlling O. aegyptiaca Persoon. In the experiments, the ability of three popular lily cultivars (Lilium Oriental hybrids ‘Sorbonne’, Lilium LA (Longiflorum hybrids x Asiatic hybrids) hybrids ‘Ceb Dazzle’, and Lilium Longiflorum hybrids (L. formosanum x L. longiflorum) ‘L. formolongo’) to induce O. aegyptiaca Persoon. seed germination was assessed. Parts of the three lily cultivars, including the rhizosphere soil and underground and above-ground organs, all induced “suicidal germination” of parasitic O. aegyptiaca Persoon. seed at four growth stages. Specifically, Sorbonne and Ceb Dazzle behaved with similar allelopathy, and the bulb, scale leaf and aerial stem exhibited stronger allelopathic effects on O. aegyptiaca Pers. germination compared to other organs. Aqueous L. formolongo leaf extracts may contain more stable, effective stimulants given that they induced the highest germination rate at 76.7% even though the extracts were serially diluted. We speculate that these organs may be advantageous in further isolating and purifying economical active substances that can be substitutes for GR24. These results indicate that lilies have the potential to be used as a trap crops or can be processed into green herbicide formulations that can be applied in agriculture production to rapidly deplete the seed bank of O. aegyptiaca Persoon. parasitic weeds in soil.

Plantago asiatica mosaic virus Found in Protected Crops of Lily Hybrids in Southern Italy

HomePlant DiseaseVol. 99, No. 9Plantago asiatica mosaic virus Found in Protected Crops of Lily Hybrids in Southern Italy PreviousNext DISEASE NOTES OPENOpen Access licensePlantago asiatica mosaic virus Found in Protected Crops of Lily Hybrids in Southern ItalyG. Parrella, B. Greco, A. Pasqualini, and A. G. NappoG. ParrellaSearch for more papers by this author, B. GrecoSearch for more papers by this author, A. PasqualiniSearch for more papers by this author, and A. G. NappoSearch for more papers by this authorAffiliationsAuthors and Affiliations G. Parrella B. Greco A. Pasqualini A. G. Nappo , Istituto per la Protezione Sostenibile delle Piante del CNR, UOS di Portici, 80055 Portici (NA), Italy. Published Online:6 Jul 2015https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-03-15-0281-PDNAboutSections ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailWechat In the winter of 2013 and 2014, severe necrotic streaking in midstem leaves were observed on plants of lily hybrids (Lilium sp., family Liliaceae) in several greenhouses of the Campania region (southern Italy). A total of 14 symptomatic plants (seven in 2013 and seven in 2014) were chosen to complete diagnostic tests in the laboratory: four plants of Asiatic hybrid (unknown variety), seven of LA hybrid (L. longiflorum × Asiatic hybrid) of cv. Brindisi and three of Oriental hybrids (two of cv. Santander and one of cv. Pandora). Leaf samples were tested for the presence of potyviruses by indirect ELISA using the “poty group test” kit (Bioreba, Switzerland) and by double-antibody sandwich (DAS)-ELISA with Plantago asiatica mosaic virus (PlAMV; genus Potexvirus, family Flexiviridae) specific antibody and conjugate (kindly provided by Dr. de Kock, BKD, Flowerbulb Inspection Service, The Netherlands). All samples tested negative to the poty group antiserum, while PlAMV specific antibody detected the virus in all samples of Asiatic and Oriental lilies and three out of seven of the LA hybrids. Mechanical inoculation of leaf samples, pooled per typology of hybrids, elicited systemic mosaic followed by streaking and apical necrosis in N. benthamiana, and chlorotic/necrotic local lesions in C. quinoa. The presence of PlAMV was confirmed by testing in ELISA the symptomatic leaves of both host plants. Molecular detection of PlAMV was performed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), using the primer pair PLMCPfw (5′-GGAGGCCGVTACGTCGACGG-3′) and PLMCPrev (5′-AAACGGTAAAATACACACCGGG-3′) on total RNA extracted from symptomatic leaves of each plant. These primers were designed based on multialignment of all PlAMV sequences available in GenBank and in order to amplify a fragment of approximately 1.0-kb encompassing the complete ORF of the coat protein. After RT-PCR, the 1.0-kb amplicon was obtained in all samples of Asiatic and Oriental hybrids and in three out of seven samples of the LA hybrid, the same found positive in ELISA. The identity of the virus was further confirmed by sequencing seven out of 10 amplicons obtained (one from the Asiatic hybrid from unknown variety, GenBank Accession No. LN827657; three from Oriental hybrids cvs Pandora and Santander, LN827658 and LN827659-60, respectively; three form the LA hybrid cv. Brindisi, LN651192-94). All the sequences showed the highest nucleotide sequence identity with the Dutch isolate Sorbonne of PlAMV (KF471012), ranging from 99.4 to 99.8%. This is the first report of PlAMV in Lilium spp. in Italy. Severe leaf necrosis syndrome caused by PlAMV in Lilium spp. was described in 2010 in The Netherlands (EPPO Reporting Service 2011), probably introduced with infected Asian germplasm of Lilium spp. (Anderson 2012). PlAMV infections were then reported in 2012 in UK in Lilium spp. introduced from Spain (Anderson 2012) and recently in the United States in Asiatic and Oriental lilies imported from the Netherlands (Hammond 2015). Based on sequences similarity of PlAMV isolates detected in Italy with the Dutch isolate (KF471012), also in this case the accidental introduction of infected bulbs from the Netherlands is strongly suspected. PlAMV could become a significant pathogen in protected lily crops based upon its capacity to be transmitted by contact, and thus this further discovery would suggest that more efficient diagnostic methods for PlAMV detection, within an accurate certification scheme of lily bulbs production, should be adopted.

Production of virus-free plants of Lilium spp. from bulbs obtained in vitro and ex vitro

Lilium tissue culture is used for mass propagation of elite material as well as for obtaining virus-free plants. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of meristem tip culture from microbulbs obtained in vitro and from bulblets obtained via scaling macropropagation – either with or without thermotherapy and chemotherapy treatments applied before meristem tip culture – to obtain virus-free Lilium spp. plants. To this end, microshoot regeneration from meristematic tips was first tested and two diagnostic techniques were compared after meristem tip culture treatment. Different alternatives were assayed in several Lilium hybrids to obtain virus-free plants. Effective virus elimination was possible using meristematic tips extracted from bulblets produced ex vitro by scaling, a procedure that has not been previously reported in Lilium. The number of virus-free plants obtained, which depended on the genotype as well as on the virus present in the original material, reached ∼100% via meristem tip culture with or without pre-thermotherapy treatment at 35°C. Meristem tip culture produced 100% of LMoV-free plants in Lilium longiflorum ‘Snow Queen’ and LA hybrid ‘Lacorno’, also CMV-free plants in Asiatic hybrid ‘Navona’ and LA hybrid ‘Fangio’, and LSV-free plants in LA ‘Royal Respect’. The LSV infection rate decreased in Asiatic hybrid ‘Visconti’ when thermotherapy was applied ex vitro before meristem tip culture. Chemotherapy applied during in vitro bulb differentiation prior to meristem tip culture led to a complete elimination of LSV in the LO hybrid ‘Triumphator’. Ex vitro chemotherapy was ineffective in virus elimination even when applied at high concentrations.

English

This experiment was carried out to investigate the potential of nutrient film technique (NFT) hydroponic system for flowers and bulbs production of the Asiatic hybrid lily cv. Blackout using rainwater and some common nutrient solutions (Hoagland No. 2 Basal Salt Mixture, Murashige and Skoog Basal Salt Mixture and White’s Basal Salt) with rock wool cubes as medium with or without removal of flower buds and mother bulb scales. The results show that the NFT hydroponic system was an excellent method to produce lily flowers in 55 days. The rainwater could be applied as nutrient solution in this system to produce lily flowers in a good quality making this system easier and cheaper way to get into cut lily production. The results of analytical chemistry indicated that the rainwater contained some amounts of macro and micro elements in forms that plants can absorb and had a good value of pH (6.20) with favorite high ratio of NO3:NH4 making this water to be more efficient for plant growth and development as nutrient solution. The analytical results of nutrient solutions at flowering time showed that these solutions had different amounts of nutrients, values of pH, electrical conductivity (EC) and the ratio of NO3:NH4. The present results indicate that the number and quality of flowers were influenced by different nutrient solutions even so the flowers of all treatments were in a good quality. The NFT hydroponic system was shown to be the most effective for bulblets and daughters production, but different solutions showed different results and the Hoag solution and MS solution gave the best results related to the production of these propagated storage organs. Key word: Asiatic lily, nutrient film technique (NFT), hydroponic, rainwater, nutrient solutions, removal treatment, flower, bulblet, daughter.

Selection of generally applicable SSR markers for evaluation of genetic diversity and identity in Lilium

There are approximately 100 species and 10,000 cultivars of Lilium and in general their phylogeny is understood. Difficulties remain, however, in understanding the breeding relationships of cultivars and commercial hybrids. One solution to this problem is to identify a selection of validated and transferable SSR markers for use in genotyping. Although over 100 Lilium SSRs have been developed, they have not been validated for use with broad populations. Here, were-evaluated 112 SSRs with 69 lily accessions from different sources, and selected 70 SSRs as easy to score, transferable and polymorphic in all accessions tested. Based on the marker data from 70 SSRs, two main clusters were established for 69 accessions using TREECON, one includes Asiatic hybrids, Longiflorum × Asiatic hybrids and Asiatic local landraces (Lilium brownii, L. brownii var. giganteum, Lilium pumilum, Lilium davidii var. unicolor and Lilium lancifolium), the other is composed primarily of Oriental hybrids and Oriental × Trumpet hybrids, which is in agreement with previous studies and the breeding pedigree. The utility of the 70 SSR markers for establishing parentage and taxon identity of landraces was validated. Our study offers valuable information and validated markers for Lilium systematic classification and the establishment of identity.

The application of fluorescence in situ hybridization in different ploidy levels cross-breeding of lily.

21 crossing were conducted between Asiatic Lily with different ploidy levels, the results showed that the interploidy hybridization between diploid and tetraploid lilies was not as successful as intraploidy hybridization. Regardless of male sterility, triploid lilies could be used as female parents in the hybridization which the progenies were aneuploidy. 3x×4x crosses could be cultured more successfully than 3x×2x crosses. 45S rDNA was mapped on the chromosomes of seven Lilium species and their progenies using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). FISH revealed six to sixteen 45S rDNA gene loci, and normally the sites were not in pairs. The asymmetry indexes of LA (Longiflorum hybrids × Asiatic hybrids) hybrids was higher than Asiatic hybrids, the evolution degree was LA hybrids > Asiatic hybrids. 45S rDNA distributed variably on chromosome 1-10 and 12 among Asiatic hybrids. Chromosome 1 had invariable sites of 45S rDNA in all Asiatic hybrids, which could be considered as the characteristic of Asiatic hybrids. LA hybrid ‘Freya’ had two sites of 45S rDNA on one homologous chromosome 5, and also it could be found in the progenies. The karyotype and fluorescence in situ hybridization with 45S rDNA as probe were applied to identify the different genotypes of 9 hybrids. Typical chromosomes with parental signal sites could be observed in all the genotypes of hybrids, it was confirmed that all the hybrids were true.

Plant regeneration via embryo-like structures: histological observations and genetic stability in regenerants of Lilium spp.

SUMMARYTransverse thin-cell layers (tTCLs) excised from bulblets of Lilium longiflorum X Oriental hybrid ‘Triumphator’ were cultured on 1.0X Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium containing 0.1 mg l−1 α-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) and 0.1 mg l−1 kinetin (KT) in the dark at 23° ± 2°C. White-yellow, friable, embryo-like structures formed after 6 weeks in culture. The embryo-like structures proliferated well when cultured on 1.0X MS medium containing 1.0 mg l−1 NAA and 0.2 mg l−1 thidiazuron (TDZ), and converted into whole plantlets on 0.5X MS medium without any added plant growth regulator. Histological studies identified the origin of the first cell divisions from single sub-epidermal cells, from which somatic embryos developed. Using this procedure, embryo-like structures (ELS) were obtained at frequencies of 85.5%, 76.8%, 68.4%, 28.5% and 25.6% for L. longiflorum, L. longiflorum X Oriental ‘Triumphator’, Lilium Oriental hybrid ‘Siberia’, Lilium Asiatic hybrid ‘Elite’, and L. davidii var. unicolor, respectively. Embryo-like structures could be proliferated and developed into plantlets, with five-to-ten plantlets per embryo-like structure in all five Lilium species and hybrids tested. No polymorphic bands were detected using inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers and no change in ploidy level was found by flow cytometry (FCM) among the regenerants of all five Lilium species and hybrids. These five Lilium species and hybrids represented a diverse genetic resource of the genus Lilium. This protocol may be widely applicable for somatic embryogenesis and has potential applications in micropropagation and genetic transformation in Lilium spp.

Studies on genetic variabilityand heritability in Asiatic hybrid lily (<i>Lilium x elegans</i> L)

Seventeen genotypes of Asiatic hybrid lily were evaluated for various vegetative and floral traits to ascertain genetic parameters such as variability, heritability, genetic (GCV) and phenotypic (PCV) coefficient of variation, genetic advance and correlation during 2012-2013. PKLH-2 was the earliest to flower and PKLH-12 took maximum days to flower. The maximum plant height and flower size was recorded in Stargater and Prato, respectively. PKLH-2 produced maximum number of shoots per plant. PKLH-8 exhibited the maximum number of flowers per plant. The investigation revealed wide variation for all the characters indicating sufficient genetic variability to be exploited in breeding programme. The maximum value of PCV and GCV was recorded for number of spots/cm 2 . High heritability coupled with high genetic advance was observed for plant height and number of leaves per plant. Selection on the basis of these characters would be more effective for improvement of Lilium . Plant height, the economically important trait revealed a highly significant and positive correlation with number of leaves per plant, leaf area, flower diameter, number of flowers per plant and inflorescence length. Hence, direct selection from germpalsm lines may be effective for improvement in closely related traits.

Auxin involvement in tepal senescence and abscission in Lilium: a tale of two lilies.

Petal wilting and/or abscission terminates the life of the flower. However, how wilting and abscission are coordinated is not fully understood. There is wide variation in the extent to which petals wilt before abscission, even between cultivars of the same species. For example, tepals of Lilium longiflorum wilt substantially, while those of the closely related Lilium longiflorum×Asiatic hybrid (L.A.) abscise turgid. Furthermore, close comparison of petal death in these two Lilium genotypes shows that there is a dramatic fall in fresh weight/dry weight accompanied by a sharp increase in ion leakage in late senescent L. longiflorum tepals, neither of which occur in Lilium L.A. Despite these differences, a putative abscission zone was identified in both lilies, but while the detachment force was reduced to zero in Lilium L.A., wilting of the fused tepals in L. longiflorum occurred before abscission was complete. Abscission is often negatively regulated by auxin, and the possible role of auxin in regulating tepal abscission relative to wilting was tested in the two lilies. There was a dramatic increase in auxin levels with senescence in L. longiflorum but not in Lilium L.A. Fifty auxin-related genes were expressed in early senescent L. longiflorum tepals including 12 ARF-related genes. In Arabidopsis, several ARF genes are involved in the regulation of abscission. Expression of a homologous transcript to Arabidopsis ARF7/19 was 8-fold higher during senescence in L. longiflorum compared with abscising Lilium L.A., suggesting a conserved role for auxin-regulated abscission in monocotyledonous ethylene-insensitive flowers.

조생종 주황색 절화용 아시아틱 나리 ‘Orange Sunup’ 육성

조생종 주황색 절화용 아시아틱 나리 ‘Orange Sunup’ 육성

The origin of the LhMYB12 gene, which regulates anthocyanin pigmentation of tepals, in Oriental and Asiatic hybrid lilies (Lilium spp.)

MYB12 is one of the key genes causing variation in anthocyanin colour in lily flowers. Nearly full-length sequences of the MYB12 gene were determined in 6 wild species and their 6 varieties, each of the Archelirion and Sinoartagon sections from the genus Lilium, and their sequences were compared with sequences of 20 cultivars of Oriental and Asiatic hybrid lilies. In total, 29 MYB12 sequences were detected. Most of the MYB12 sequences in full-pink-flowered cultivars of Oriental hybrid lilies were similar to those in Lilium speciosum and L. rubellum, and thus, should be derived from these two wild species. Lilium auratum had identical or similar MYB12 sequences to Oriental hybrid cultivars ‘Dizzy’ and ‘Casablanca’: These plants have a white tepal background with or without red raised spots and red centrelines. MYB12 genes from L. japonicum rarely appeared in Oriental hybrid lily cultivars. MYB12 sequences in Asiatic hybrid lily cultivars were identical or similar to those in L. cernuum, indicating that L. cernuum has contributed pink colouration to these cultivars.

PLANT REGENERATION AND CRYOPRESERVATION OF LILIUM

Lilium is globally one of the most economically important ornamental crops used for flowers, medicine and food. Availability of efficient plant regeneration is necessary for micropropagation, genetic transformation, cryopreservation and production of virus-free plant material of Lilium. In this study, wide-spectrum protocols of plant regeneration via somatic embryogenesis from bulblet transverse thin cell layers (tTCLs) and via organogenesis from leaf segments were successfully established in Lilium. For somatic embryogenesis, 85.0, 75.3, 67.6, 27.8 and 25.0% of embryogenic callus induction frequencies (ECIFs) were obtained in five genotypes including L. longiflorum, L. longiflorum × Oriental 'Triumphator', L. Oriental hybrid 'Siberia', L. Asiatic hybrid 'Elite' and L. davidii var. unicolor, respectively. For organogenesis, similarly high shoot regeneration frequencies (SRFs) at 92-100% and a high number (4.7-7.0) of shoots per segment were obtained in 6 genotypes including L. Oriental hybrid 'Siberia', L. davidii var. unicolor, L. × formolongi, L. Asiatic hybrids 'Elite' and 'Pollyanna' and L. longiflorum × Oriental 'Triumphator'. Shoot tips of adventitious shoots derived from leaf segments of these Lilium genotypes were cryopreserved by droplet-vitrification. Shoot regrowth and somatic embryogenesis could be obtained in cryopreserved shoot tips, depending on post-culture conditions. Assessments of genetic integrity in regenerants from somatic embryogenesis, organogenesis and cryopreserved shoot tips by ISSR revealed that they were genetically stable. Data reported here have potential applications to genetic transformation, cryopreservation and production of virus-free plant material of Lilium by cryotherapy.

(MOLECULAR) BREEDING OF LILIUM

Lily breeding has become an important economic activity in the last 50 years. Within this period breeding has changed from making end-products that were mainly interspecific hybrids from the section Sinomartagon to polyploid hybrids that are derived from intersectional crosses. Especially the Longiflorum × Asiatic hybrids or LA hybrids and the Oriental × Trumpets or OT hybrids have become dominant combinations in breeding because of their superior performance over Asiatic and Oriental hybrids. Molecular breeding utilises the information of markers linked to genes of interest to develop more efficient selection strategies in what is called Marker Assisted Selection. Molecular breeding is of particular importance when desired traits are difficult to phenotype (e.g., due to environmental variation influencing the trait), when simultaneous combinations of several genes are needed (e.g., quantitative resistance genes or yield) or in a combination of the two situations. The use of markers for breed¬ing has become an integrated part of the breeding schemes in many of the world’s important food crops. Especially the development of massive parallel sequencing methods known under the collective term Next Generation Sequencing (NGS sequencing) and the availability of high throughput marker systems have revolution¬ized the possibilities for molecular breeding. In most ornamental crops, and also in lily that is a model crop for research in interspecific hybridisation and cytogenetic, molecular breeding has not been imple-mented in actual breeding yet. Nevertheless there are some promising developments in research that are presented in this paper.

EFFECTIVENESS OF REDUCED-RISK AND BIOCONTROL PRODUCTS IN CONTROLLING FIRE ON LILIES

Fungicides are an important tool used in the management of Botrytis elliptica on lilies. During 2011, 2012 and 2013, trials were conducted to determine the effectiveness of several reduced-risk and biocontrol fungicides in controlling B. elliptica on field-grown 'Elite' or 'London' Asiatic hybrid lilies. A total of 13 fungicides and an untreated check were included in these trials. Fungicides included iprodione (Chipco 26019 N/G), chlorothalonil (Daconil Weather Stik), fluoxastrobin (Disarm 480 SC), fludioxonil (Medallion 50WP), cyprodinil + fludioxonil (Palladium 62.5WG), pyraclostrobin + boscalid (Pageant 38 WG), thyme oil (Proud 3), extract of Reynoutria sachalinensis (Regalia), tebuconazole (Torque 3.6SC), metconazole (Tourney 50WDG), triticonazole (Trinity 2SC), fenpyrazamine (V10135 SC), and hydrogen dioxide + peroxyacetic acid (ZeroTol 2.0). Treatments were applied on 7, 10, or 14 day intervals with a CO2 sprayer equipped with an 8002 LP TEE-Jet nozzle at 1.1 kg/cm2 in the equivalent of 935.4 liters of water/ha. Applications were made during a 2 to 3 month period during the growing season and the experimental design was a randomized complete block with each treatment applied to a 0.9 m long section of row in each of five blocks. Results from these trials indicated that three fungicides, pyraclostrobin + boscalid, fludioxonil, and cyprodinil + fludioxonil, consistently reduced disease development. Of these, pyraclostrobin + boscalid was the most effective. Applications of the other products included in the trials were ineffective or inconsistent in controlling B. elliptica on lilies.

Transcriptomic analysis of Asiatic lily in the process of vernalization via RNA-seq

The new transcriptomes provided comprehensive sequence profiling data of transcriptomic variation during vernalization in Lily Asiatic Hybrids 'Tiny ghost'. A number of 52,277,184 sequencing raw reads totaling 5.11 Gbp of the chilling treatment (4 °C) sample and 39,466,176 sequencing raw reads totaling 3.85 Gbp of room temperature control (25 °C) sample were assembled de novo into 68,718 unigenes with a mean length of 984 bp, and a total of 33,208 (45.6%) unigenes were annotated by using public protein databases with a cut-off E value about 10(-5). There are 6,153 unigenes of which were assigned to specific metabolic pathways by the Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes. Gene Ontology analysis of the annotated unigenes revealed that the majority of sequenced genes were associated with signal transduction mechanisms, posttranslational modification, protein turnover and chaperones. In addition, the genes expression levels were compared just after vernalization completion between the cold treatment and room temperature control. There are 68,116 unigenes were differentially expressed, and hierarchical clustering analysis arranged 7,301 significantly differentially-expressed unigenes into 56 groups. Six genes related to the vernalization were selected to confirm their expression levels by using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Furthermore, typical vernalization unigenes VRN1 and VRN2 were identified, and also some vernalization-associated unigenes, such as CBF, SOC, TaAGL, AP2, LEA, LIM et al. were also annotated in the present study. As for VRN1 and VRN2, their expressions were consistent with some previous related studies. Also, this was the first time the vernalization genes VRN1 and VRN2 were founded in lily. According to the results of the present studies, we predicted that they would play an important role during vernalization in Lily Asiatic Hybrids; these data provided the foundation for the future studies of metabolism during vernalization of Asiatic lily.

New technique for cut flower production from bulbils of the Asiatic hybrid lily (Lilium×elegans Thunb.)

Generally, two to three years are required to produce bulbs of Lilium×elegans Thunb. from bulblets for forcing in the greenhouse. During the bulb production phase in the field, virus infection often lowers the quality of bulbs. The objective of this research was to investigate the feasibility of forcing bulbils to produce plants with two to three flowers on a stem longer than 60cm. Uniform bulbils of L.×elegans produced naturally from the axils of leaves were used to investigate the effect of maturity and size of bulbils, plant growth regulator treatment, sequential or constant temperature treatments given to bulbils, and temperature, and high light irradiance treatments upon scaly leaf emergence on growth and flowering. Further changes in shoot apex size as influenced by sequential and constant temperature treatments and soluble carbohydrates as affected by temperature and plant growth regulators were investigated. Cut flowers of Asiatic hybrid ‘Beni no Mai’ with two to three flowers and strong 60cm stems were produced in less than a year when mature bulbils weighing about 400mg harvested 40 to 50 days after flowering, are treated with a sequential temperature treatment (SEQ CD) 14 to 20 days each at 5°C–15° or 20°C–5°C. This long growing period can be divided into two phases. The first phase, similar to plug production, occurs from potting the treated bulbils, to senescence of scaly leaves, and to shoot emergence and lasts about 200 to 230 days. The second phase proceeds from shoot emergence to flowering and requires 90 to 100 days. The first phase could employ plug production technology by growing plants pot to pot, and the second phase could be considered typical greenhouse forcing. The observed increase in the number of flowers could result from the increased shoot apex. This procedure eliminated the bulb production phase in the field and reduces the time from propagation to flowering by one to two years.