Limonium Breeding: New Options for a Well Known Genus

Abstract

Limonium is a genus that is well known in international cut flower markets. There has been considerable investment in breeding new varieties over many years and the objective has been to try to incorporate traits from less well known species into new cultivars. Limonium perigrinum was hybridized with L. purpuratum and a plant with stems in excess of 60 cm selected from this cross for further development. This plant was later released under PVR as 'Chorus Magenta'. Subsequent breeding has had two aims -to increase the flower color range, but maintain the form of 'Chorus Magenta', and to generate a range of Limonium hybrids for the potted plant market. There are four selections in trials as potted plants in New Zealand and Australia at present. Limonium perezii was hybridized with L. sinuatum using embryo rescue techniques. The hybrid plants were sterile. Use of spindle toxins resulted in a doubling of the nuclear DNA contents of the hybrids and a large proportion of the pollen staining with Alexander's stain. Reciprocal crosses between the DNA tetraploids and their diploid parent species are producing embryos.

Chromosome Doubling in <i>Limonium bellidifolium</i> (Gouan) Dumort. by Colchicine Treatment of Seeds

“…Morgan et al (2001) reported that the fertility of sterile interspecific hybrids, created by crossing L. perezii and L. sinuatum using embryo rescue techniques, was restored through oryzalin-induced somatic chromosome doubling. To the best of our knowledge, this is the only polyploidization study in Limonium, and thus far, no study has determined the optimum concentrations and/or exposure time for spindle toxin-induced chromosome doubling or provided a precise description of morphological characteristics.…”

Morphological Characterization of Tetraploids of Limonium sinuatum (L.) Mill. Produced by Oryzalin Treatment of Seeds

“…Our in vivo seed treatments with oryzalin successfully produced polyploids of L. sinuatum (Table 1). Morgan et al [19,23] produced interspecific hybrids of L. perezii and L. sinuatum and obtained allotetraploids after an oryzalin treatment of their embryos. These findings indicate that oryzalin treatment is effective for producing polyploid plants in Limonium spp.…”

“…In the genus Limonium, there are a few reports regarding chromosome doubling using polyploidizing agents [18]. Morgan et al [19] produced allotetraploids of an interspecific hybrid between L. perezii and L. sinuatum by oryzalin treatment of in vitro shoots. Mori et al [20] treated the seeds of L. bellidifolium with colchicine and obtained autotetraploids, which tended to produce wider, thicker leaves and larger flowers than diploid plants.…”