A new promising way for lily introgression breeding
Lily is one of the economically most important ornamental crops. There are three main lily cultivar groups, viz., Longiflorum, Asiatic and Oriental. They possess quite different valuable traits, and one of main goals of modern lily breeding is to combine the three distinctive groups in new cultivars. With cut style pollination and embryo rescue, not only many distant F1 hybrids between Longiflorum x Asiatic lilies, but also their BC1, BC2 and BC3 progenies were obtained.
In this thesis, BC1, BC2 and BC3 progenies of LA-hybrids were analyzed using molecular cytogenetic chromosome staining techniques. It was found for the first time in lily that some interspecific F1 hybrids can produce functional haploid gametes. This finding may open a new way for lily introgression breeding. The phenomenon that the differences occurred between lily reciprocal crosses could be explained by investigating the ploidy level of the endosperm and the viability of the gametes in these crosses. This finding can help breeders to choose the best parents in their lily hybridization.
Titel proefschrift: "Intergenomic recombination and introgression breeding in Longiflorum x Asiatic lilies"