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This publication gives an overview of the role of
biotechnology in the development and production of two indigenous flower bulbs
in South Africa, namely Lachenalia and Ornithogalum. During the
1970s the two major constraints to successful commercialisation were identified
as slow propagation rate and susceptibility to virus, and work to overcome
these was started. Later, more advanced techniques, viz. molecular markers,
embryo rescue and in vitro bulb production, were developed. Techniques
such as virus elimination, mass propagation, in vitro long-term storage,
in vitro bulb formation, embryo rescue and in vitro
polyploidisation are being applied on a routine basis to shorten the time
required to develop new cultivars, to maintain the propagation scheme and
overcome incompatibility between species. More advanced technology gene
transfer and marker-assisted hybrid selection, may be applied in future to
develop cultivars resistant to virus and to increase efficiency of hybrid
selection.

South African Journal of Botany
2004, 70(1): 47–51