REGENERATION OF HAPLOID PLANTS FROM ANTHER CULTURES OF THE ASIATIC HYBRID LILY CONNECTICUT KING

A system for producing haploid plants from anther cultures was develop ed for the Asiatic hybrid lily 'Connecticut King'. Anthers containing microspores at the mid- to late-uninucleate stages were cultured on MS media supplemented with various plant growth regulators. Microspores containing 3 or 4 vegetative-like nuclei were observed 2 to 3 weeks la ter, and yellowish nodular calluses appeared within dehisced anthers 2 to 3 months after culture. Picloram was superior to 2,4-D for inducin g nodular calluses. Anthers from greenhouse-grown plants required high er concentrations of both picloram and cytokinins than those from fiel d-grown plants and most frequently produced nodular calluses (17.6%) o n MS medium containing 2 mg l(-1) picloram and 2 mg l(-1) zeatin. The nodular calluses regenerated many bulblets following transfer to MS me dium supplemented with 0.1 or 0.5 mg l(-1) picloram and 0.01 mg l(-1) BA, and the bulblets developed into plantlets (bulblets with scaly lea ves and roots) after transfer to MS medium containing 0.1 mg l(-1) NAA . Chromosome counts of root-tip cells of 11 plantlets revealed that fi ve were haploids (2n = 12), two diploids (2n = 24), and four mixoploid . This result suggests that at least some plantlets were of gametophyt ic origin.