Correlation of saponin content and Fusarium resistance in hybrids from different ploidy levels of Lilium Oriental

• Published in: Scientia horticulturae 2011-07, Vol.129 (4), p.849-853
• Main Authors: Liu, Wu-Lin, Wu, Li-Fang, Wu, Hong-Zhi, Zheng, Si-Xiang, Wang, Ji-Hua, Liu, Fei-Hu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; Biological and medical sciences; Cytogenetics; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Fungal plant pathogens; Fusarium resistance; Generalities. Genetics. Plant material; Genetics and breeding of economic plants; Hybrid; Karyotype variation; Lilium Oriental; Phytopathology. Animal pests. Plant and forest protection; Ploidy; Saponin
• ISSN: 0304-4238; 1879-1018
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scienta.2011.05.015

Lilium Oriental is of great commercial value, but large losses in production can result from its susceptibility to diseases caused by Fusarium ssp. Here we report a mutant of Lilium Oriental resistant to Fusarium, Cai-74, which was generated from crossing tetraploid (from ‘Star fighter’) and diploid (‘Cor. Amore’ × ‘Acapulco’) plants. Hybrid progeny were screened via inoculating Fusarium oxysporum into tissue cultured plantlets in a greenhouse. Although Cai-74 had a saponin content of 3.81 mg g −1, which is much higher than its parents, the highly Fusarium-resistant wild species Lilium dauricum had the highest content of 4.11 mg g −1 among the tested genotypes. Cai-74 had a 3A karyotype rather than 3B found in normal plants of Lilium Oriental. Taken together, our results suggest that Cai-74 bears a chromosomal variation in its structure, and that the saponin content in the lily scales correlate with the Fusarium resistance of Lilium Oriental. Cai-74 could be used as a gene resource for breeding Fusarium-resistant cultivars of Lilium Oriental.