Bulblet Regeneration from Tepal Explant in Lily Cultivars

Protocol for bulblet regeneration from tepal segments was developed in Asiatic hybrid lily cultivars. The explants were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with different concentrations of ∞-naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) and 6-benzyladenine (BA). The days for bulblet initiation decreased with the addition of NAA and/or BA in the medium. The bulblets were initiated much earlier (26.9 d) with 1 mg l−1 NAA and 0.5 mg l−1 BA. About 75% of the cultures with 1.2 bulblets per explants were observed in growth regulator-free medium. However, the regeneration response increased to 80.82% with 1.5 mg l−1 NAA and 0.5 mg l−l BA. The number of bulblets per explant and average fresh weight was highest with 1.5 and 1 mg l−1 NAA in combination with 0.5 mg l−1 BA. Among the cultivars, maximum number of bulblets was recorded for ‘Alaska’, whereas heaviest bulblets were observed in ‘Pollyana’. The bulblets attaining the size of 14–16 cm flowered in two and a half years without any phenotypic variations. The protocol developed for bulblet regeneration in Asiatic hybrid lilies from tepal explant could be adopted for mass propagation of commercially important cultivars of lily as an alternative to bulb-scale.