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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Washington, D.C. » National Arboretum » Floral and Nursery Plants Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #262253
Title: Flower bud abscission triggered by the author in the Asiatic hybrid lilies

Author
item HWANG, SUN AE - Chungnam National University
item LEE, POOK OK - Chungnam National University
item CHOI, MOK PI - Chungnam National University
item LEE, HEE SU - Chungnam National University
item LEE, JONG SUK - Chungnam National University
item Roh, Mark

Submitted to: Acta Horticulturae
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/2/2011
Publication Date: 7/8/2011
Citation: Hwang, S., Lee, P., Choi, M., Lee, H., Lee, J., Roh, M.S. 2011. Flower bud abscission triggered by the author in the Asiatic hybrid lilies. Acta Horticulturae. 900:265-272.

Interpretive Summary: A flower is composed of several organs including the tepal, ovule, style with stigma (pistil), filaments, anthers, and receptacle. Senescence of flowers is considered as autonomous and programmed physiologically. Harvesting cut flowers may trigger or accelerate the progress of senescence, and ethylene production is related to tepal senescence. However, flower bud abscission in the Asiatic hybrid lily occurs during year-round forcing, particularly under high temperature conditions, and is associated with bud size, respiration rate, and ethylene evolution. The physiology of flower bud abscission in Lilium has not been investigated. The organs of lily can be separated easily and therefore, it is considered as a good model to investigate the involvement of anthers in flower bud abscission. We selected Asiatic hybrid lily flower buds as a model system and hypothesized that anthers are the triggering organ for flower bud abscission. The absence of sucrose hydrolysis in the anther and lack of translocation of sucrose from the filaments to the anther in small buds may be factors that contribute to flower bud abscission in ‘Red Carpet’ lily.

Technical Abstract: It is not well documented which organ may trigger the onset of tepal or petal senescence and/or flower bud abscission. Asiatic hybrid L. × elegans Thunb., ‘Red Carpet’ lily flowers were selected as a model to study this relationship because the various floral organs can be easily dissected and collected for physiological studies. We hypothesized that anthers could be a triggering organ inducing flower bud abscission. Ethanol soluble sucrose, fructose, and glucose were analyzed in the tepal, anther, filament, and ovary plus style. The analysis was conducted using flower buds weighing 1.5 grams and 3.9 grams. The sucrose content in the anther of small buds (1.5 gram) remained high when a single bud was held at 21oC for 5 days, suggesting that sucrose is not hydrolyzed into fructose and glucose. However, in large buds (3.9 g), sucrose was not detected when flowers were held at 21oC for 5 days. The absence of sucrose hydrolysis in the anther and lack of translocation of sucrose from the filaments to the anther in small buds may be factors that contribute to flower bud abscission in ‘Red Carpet’ lily.