In vitro propagation and organogenesis of Lilium ‘Prato’

Lilium consists of more than 80 species native to the Northern Hemisphere. It is widely used as cut flowers, flowering potted and garden plants. Since Lilium in vitro production, as an alternative to the conventional vegetative propagation methods is becoming an important way to increase shoot proliferation rates; therefore, the purpose of this study was to establish a protocol for in vitro production of Lilium Asiatic hybrid ‘Prato’ and to compare between two explants for shoot proliferation and organogenesis. Bulb scales and leaf segments as explants of Lilium ‘Prato’ were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) basal medium supplemented with benzyl adenine (BA) at 0.25, 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 mg/l and naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) at 0.25, 0.5 and 1.0 mg/l. Callus was formed over the bulb scales before shoot organogenesis occurred, while shoot organogenesis occurred directly from the leaf segments without callus formation. It was found that the bulb scales gave higher percent of shoot regeneration than leaf segments when used as explants and was 96.67 and 64.67%, respectively. BA at 0.5 mg/l gave the highest percentage of shoot formation, shoot height and the lowest number of days to proliferation, while BA at 2.0 mg/l caused a delay in shoot organogenesis and reduced shoot height in both explants. Key words : Lilium hybrid , benzyl adenine, naphthalene acetic acid.