Micropropagation of Lilium ciliatum and Lilium akkusianum species

This study was carried out to determine the micropropagation protocol of Lilium ciliatum and Lilium akkusianum Lily species endemic to Turkey. The effects of explant type (bulb scales, bulblets and callus), photoperiod (16/8 h light/dark and 24 h dark) and plant growth regulators (BAP, NAA, IAA, IBA and GA3) on in vitro regeneration of both species were investigated. Bulb scales selected as initial explants were cultured on MS medium supplemented with hormone combinations including different doses of BAP (0.1, 05, 1.0 and 2.0 mg/l) with NAA, IAA and IBA. Bulblets and callus explants were obtained by regeneration of the bulb scale explants. Bulblet explants were cultured under 16/8 hours light/dark and 24 hours dark photoperiod in 9 different combinations of BAP with NAA, IBA and GA3. The effect of plant growth regulators in bulb scale explants was found to be significant for all traits studied (number of bulbs, bulb diameter, number of bulbs of 5 mm or more, callus weight, number of shoots, shoot length, number of roots, root length) in both species. While the effect of auxin group hormones in combinations with BAP in L. akkusianum species followed the decreasing order as IBA>NAA>IAA in all traits, higher values were obtained in the number and size of bulblets in application of BAP alone in L. ciliatum. In L. akkusianum, the highest values were generally obtained in MS medium containing GA3, whereas in L. ciliatum, combinations of BAP with IAA took the first places. The effect of plant growth regulators was affected by the photoperiod treatment and significant increases were observed in most of the attributes in 16 h light/8 h dark environment compared to 24 h darkness. Callus weights increased by 721% in L. ciliatum and 553% in L. akkusianum after 60 days of culture of callus explants. The highest numbers of bulblets, shoots and roots were recorded in L. ciliatum callus on media containing IBA, while the effect of IAA was higher in L. akkusianum. In the study, bulblets with at least 3 cm shoots were rooted under three different auxin group hormones (NAA, IAA and IBA) and doses (0.5, 1 and 2 mg/l) and 100% of the plantlets formed roots in both species. The highest values of root number and root length were 27.33 and 2.51 cm in L. ciliatum and 29.66 and 2.56 cm in L. akkusianum at 0.5 mg/l and 2 mg/l doses of IBA. Rooted plantlets of both species were transferred to pots containing perlite, cocopeat, 2:1 perlite-torf and 2:1 perlite-cocopeat mixtures and survival rates were measured as 92%, 65%, 62.5% and 50% in L. ciliatum, 46%, 66.6%, 75%, 83.3% in L. akkusianum, respectively, after 2 months.