Agro-morphological characterization of Hibiscus germplasm is a fundamental prerequisite to initiate plant breeding programs. The prime aim of this study was to characterize 107 Hibiscus syriacus genotypes using agromorphological characteristics and to collect useful data to facilitate the breeders for H. syriacus breeding programs. In this study, it has been recorded that this species appears to have innumerable variability in the morphological characteristics among Korean and exotic cultivars. Plant height of Korean and exotic H. syriacus cultivars were recorded and data revealed that the maximum plant height (143 cm) was recorded in ‘Woodbridge’ which had tall-erect plant shape. ‘Serenade’ and ‘Saemaeul’ cultivars had vigorous growth and had plant height of 141 and 137 cm, respectively and both had tall-erect plant shape. The diameters of H. syriacus flower ranged from 4.1 cm in ‘Kakchang’ to 9.4 cm in ‘Pyonghwa’. The data analysis exhibited that analysis flowers of ~ 86% of Korean cultivars had single type of flower’s form compared to exotic cultivars (~ 61%). The data related to flower shape showed that among Korean native cultivars the maximum plants (52.1%) had intermediate type of flowers followed by bowl (26.1%) and flat type (21.8%). Similar trend in exotic cultivars were observed for flower shape. In case of petal shape among total cultivars studied, 27.9% native H. syriacus plants had broard type of petals whereas 17.7 exotic cultivars had intermediate type of petals. Present results indicated high variability among H. syriacus cultivars, which presents great significance for Hibiscus breeding programs and for genetic studies in order to develop new varieties of H. syriacus.

The taxonomic importance of pollen morphologyin family Malvaceae had long been acknowledged as it pro-vides the basis for palynological and phylogenetic analysis.In present study, pollen morphological characteristics of var-ious Hibiscus syriacus cultivars were examined. The objec-tive of this study was to provide comprehensive evidence onpollen morphology and to determine pollen morphologicaldiversity in cultivars of H. syriacus that would be useful forplant taxonomy and classification. To get a clear insights ofthe pollen morphology, scanning electron microscopy (SEM)was carried out. It has been recorded that the pollen diam-eter of 16 cultivars of H. syriacus ranges from 108.81 to172.15 •Ïm. The maximum pollen size was reported fromthe cultivar ‘Chongdansim’ followed by the cultivar ‘Paedal’.The maximum spine exine length was reported from‘Jabae’ (25.29µm) followed by ‘Collie mullens’ (23.25µm),whereas the minimum value was recorded from ‘Paedal’(8.16µm). It is apparent from this study that pollen morphol-ogy of various H. syriacus cultivars was fairly uniform, andin almost all studied cultivars the pollen shape was spheroi-dal. The spines were present in all studied cultivars and var-ied considerably among the cultivars. The pollen spinefeatures presented notable variations which were of greatsignificance at both specific and generic levels, and hasalso been helpful in understanding the process of spine evo-lution within H. syriacus. The maximum distance betweenspines was observed from cultivar ‘Gyewolhyang’ that haddistance of 45.03µm. The morphological characteristics ofpollen studied in this study could be useful in performing amore efficient Hibiscus hybridization and breeding in future.

Lilies are of great economic important floweringplant that belongs to the genus Lilium can be grown underdiverse climatic conditions. During the last decade the lilyhas gained popularity worldwide among cut flowers and pot-ted flowering plants. Seeing the great recognition of lilies ininternational flower trade, several breeding approacheshave been adopted on different Lilium sections/groups andmore than 10,000 lily cultivars have been bred. Innovativebreeding strategies and advancement in molecular and bio-technology techniques have made the assortment of liliesdramatically. Different DNA marker approaches have greatpotential to increase the precision and efficiency of conven-tional lily breeding via marker-assisted selection (MAS) anddifferent breeders used it for Lilium crop improvement. Inthis review, different approaches and techniques that lilybreeders have employed to develop novel cultivars are dis-cussed. It is imperative to recognize that there must be anenhanced integration and synchronization in different lilyobjective oriented breeding programs, so that current issues,barriers etc. can be well identified with their appropriatesolutions.

Chrysanthemum is one of the most popular and economically important ornamental plants due to its huge diversity in growing habits, wide range of colors, and different patterns of flower. In the present study, we conducted the karyotype analysis in four naturally occurring genotypes of Chrysanthemum boreale. Karyotype studies based on the fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) using 5S and 45S rDNAs. Four chrysanthemum genoteyps showed an aneuploid chromosome number of 2n=18+2 (111016 and 111021) or a diploid of 2n=18 (121001 and 121002). All the genoteyps had the same karyotype formula of 14 metacentrics and 4 submetacentrics. In 111016, the chromosome length during somatic metaphase ranged from 3.11 ± 0.26 μm (shortest) to 3.94 ± 0.20 μm (longest), with a total length of 32.94 μm. The chromosome length at the mitotic metaphase ranged from 3.11 to 6.46 μm, with a total length of 32.94 μm in 111016 and 51.05, 32.81, and 46.00 μm in 111021, 121001, and 121002, respectively. The 5S rDNA and 45S rDNA signals recorded different in all four wildly grown genotypes of C. boreale. This information can be useful in cultivar improvement, as well as in elucidation of the evolution of the chrysanthemum.

Potting media are an integral part of potted plants production system, formulated by a mixture of various raw materials to act as a substrate for plant support and source of nutrition. There is a wide range of potting media available, which are used for quality production of high-value plants worldwide. In this study, quality assessment of Dracaena plants grown in different potting media like: mushroom compost, peat, sand, farmyard manure, coconut coir, and leaf compost in different combinations were carried out. A mixture of sand, mushroom compost, coconut coir, and peat proved to be the best, by promoting root and shoot growth, leaf area, fresh and dry weights of root and shoot, and also improved overall quality of the plant. Media containing garden soil alone or a mixture of sand and leaf compost produced the lowest quality of plants with considerable reduction in most of the growth parameters. Anatomical parameters showed weak relation to media composition as compared to other morphological features. The best medium was made with sand, mushroom compost, coconut coir, peat, that produced plants with thick epidermis and larger pith cells, but thin endodermis and smaller metaxylem vessels in their roots. As moisture availability was sufficient enough in this medium combination, the development of water storing tissue may not contribute significantly. However, epidermis can play a decisive role in protecting roots from external environmental hazards.

Polyploidy analysis being one of the important mechanisms to study the genetic resources and plant diversity which plays significant role in crop evolution, breeding programs, and crop improvement was conducted in this study. The root tips of nine Cymbidium genotypes were used as materials to determine their chromosome number and flow cytometric analysis of chromosomal ploidies. The chromosome number (2n=40) has been observed in all the nine genotypes. Results showed that among nine cymbidium genotypes, six were tetraploid (2n=4x=80), two diploid (2n=2x=40), and one triploid (2n=3x=60). This study provides useful chromosome landmarks and evidence about genome evolution, heteromorphic chromosomes based heterozygosity, basic chromosome number and ploidy level in the genus Cymbidium. These results can be used as theoretical base line for crossbreeding in the genus Cymbidium.

Bacterial soft rot is one of the major disease of Zantedeschia species (Calla lily) caused by Erwinia carotovora. The objectives of this study were i) to screen the most efficient method to determine resistance level against E. carotovora and ii) to evaluate the genetic variability in Zantedeschia genotypes by inoculation of Ecc NHRI-3 and PD 1784 isolates. Four screening tests i.e. leaf disk, petiole, tuber and tuber slice tests were used to determine the resistance level in calla lily. Eleven genotypes from section Zantedeschia were used for variation studies against E. carotovora by using the leaf disk test. It was observed that all genotypes showed variation in resistance level and could be categorized in 3 groups on the basis of their resistance level. Four of the genotypes were resistant against this pathogen whereas, 6 genotypes were moderately resistant and only one genotype was found susceptible. Within section Aestivae, ‘Galaxy’, ‘Florex Gold’, ‘Treasure’ and ‘Mango’ were found very susceptible cultivars, whereas ‘Coral Sunset’, ‘Hazel Marie’ and ‘Neroli’ were less susceptible genotypes. Most of the cultivars from section Aestivae were susceptible to bacterial soft rot and the cultivar ‘Florex Gold’ was identified as susceptible control. It is suggested to perform pre-screening through leaf disk method which proved to a non-destructive test. The pre-screening evaluation can discriminate susceptible cultivar and resistant cultivar. Tuber slice test is more useful in screening subsequent genotypes at a later growth stage in any breeding program.