Development of in vitro propagation protocol and gus expression studies on Asiatic lily hybrids (Lilium spp.)

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.