The establishment of suspension and meristem cultures for the development of a protoplast regeneration and fusion system in Lily

The present results indicate that established morphogenic suspension cultures can be obtained from crosses between cultivars of L. longiflorum and from a cross between Asiatic hybrid 'Orlito' x 'Connecticut King'. Meristem cultures were obtained from L. longiflorum 'Gelria' and Oriental hybrid 'Star Gazer'. Viable protoplasts can be isolated from these suspension and meristem cultures. The effect of different source tissues and of the culture conditions of the source tissues, on the plating efficiency and regeneration ability of protoplasts, are currently being analysed.