INTRODUCTION

 Gladiolus (Gladiolus hybridus Hort) is glamorous bulbous

flower of beauty and perfection.

 It is one of the most attractive and popular bulbous flower

much acclaimed for its majestic spikes possessing attractive,
elegant and delicate florets.

 It is said to be the ‘Queen of bulbous flower crops’ and

commonly known as ‘Sword Lily’ or ‘Corn flag’ It belongs to
the family Iridaceae.

 In Netherlands, it ranks next only to tulip in commercial

importance
 The genus gladiolus is represented by 250 species(Lewis et
al.,1972). but only 12 have been used in breeding programme
so far.

 Most of these species are native tropical parts of South

Africa and Mediterranean region. No wild form of gladiolus is
found in India.

 Ploidy in the genus ranges from diploid (2n=30) to dodecaploid

(2n=180)

 The modern garden gladiolus is a complex of at least 12

species and most of the cvr’s are tetraploids (2n=60) & highly
heterozygous, they will not breed true to the type if grown from
seeds.
 It is said to be in cultivation since 1578. It was first
introduced into France & soon after, it spread to England,
Germany, Holland & North America.

 Hybridization work in gladiolus started in 1806 by William

Herbert.

 The 1st hybrids to enter commerce were produced in 1823

by James Colville at Chelsea in England.

 Since then more than 10,000 cvr’s have been recorded.

Most of these have been developed in USA, UK,
Netherlands and U.S.S.R
 The colour of florets varies from pure white to dark
purple, and represents almost all shades of yellow, pink
& red.

 However, the colours which are missing in modern cvr’s

are bright green, dark blue and black.
 Gladiolus In India
 In India it was introduced during British period.

 In recent past it has become one of the most popular cut

flower in india

 At present it is grown commercially in nearly 300 ha area &

about 54 million spikes worth 33 million rupees are produced
annually.

 Considering the importance of this crop, work on its

improvement through breeding was started during late fifties of
19th century
 India with its varied climatic conditions in different parts
offers possibility of growing gladiolus throughout the year in
one or other parts of the country.

 However the phenotypic expression of a character is mainly

governed by the genetic makeup of a plant, the environment
in which it is grown and the interaction between the
genotype and environment.

 The presence of high Genotype x Environment interaction

complicates breeding work because it makes it difficult to
predict how genotypes selected under a given set of
conditions will perform in a different set of conditions.
 Floral Biology
 Inflorescence is simple spike consisting of 10-25 florets all facing
one side arranged in rows.

 The florets are protandrous in nature, the anther dehiscing before

the stigma of same flower becomes receptive.

 2-3 flower open in the morning hr’s & later the anthers dehisce
along the longitudinal sutures. After about 24 hr’s of flower
opening, the stigma becomes receptive.

 Ray choudary reported that the gladiolus flower bud takes 16 days
to reach the full bloom stage. The unfurling of the petals starts
early in the morning & complete opening of florets takes 22-24 hr’s
 The dehiscence of anthers occurs between 8.00 and 9.30
a.m. following anthesis. The pollen grains were reported to
be round in shape with average dia of 106 µ. And stigma
receptivity stays for 24 hours.

 Gladiolus is cross pollinated crop. Maximum pod

development was observed in hand pollinated flowers,
while bagged flowers developed no pod (Dhaduk 1987)
 Species

Gladioli bouton Gladiolus callianthus

Gladiolus carneus
Gladiolus llyricus
Gladiolus imbricatus Gladiolus klattianus

Gladiolus priscilla Sunsetfire

 Classification

 Grandiflorus or large flowered hybrids: exhibition types,

90-150 cm long spikes

 Primulinus hybrids: less vigorous, 40-45 cm long spike.

 Butterfly hybrids: spikes shorter than 45 cm.

 Miniature hybrids: recent origin. 40 cm long spike, ruffled

tepals
 Face ups: dwarf stem, florets are 5-6 cm wide & face
upward.

 Colvillei hybrids: ( G.tristis X G cardinalis.) early

flowering, more suitable for green house condition.

 Ochideola: new group developed in Israel, produce

smaller florets on shorter stems
 Breeding Goals
The beauty part of the objectives comprises :
 Good no. of florets/spike, the proper placement of these florets
on the axis of the spike, floret size & texture, ruffling, attractive
colour, spike length & symmetry.

 Cut flower trade: the petal should have good substance so that
it can withstand the rigours of handling & transport, and the
florets must open slowely thus improving the vase life

Wide adoptability
It has to be a rapid multiplier of corms & cormels, so that new
cultivar could be multiplied fast.

Tolerant or Resistant to Fusarium & Botrytis

Breeding
methods
 Introduction & selection
 Many exotic varieties were introduced at different central
& state research centers & SAU”s

 Ex: Anne Virginia, Blaur Domino, Cardinal Spellman,

Double Frills, Exotic Double, Sister Eliz, Fenny Lind,
Florence Nightingale, Gold Dust, Hawaii, Hill Crest, Kenny,
King Lear, La Paloma, Oklahoma, Psittacinus hybrid, Rawi
Fallu and Spic & Span for grwoing under Shimla hill
conditions.
 IARI Regional station Flowerdale, Shimla

 Evaluation of large number of exotic varieties resulted

selection of 30 large flowered varieties viz., Apple Blossom,
Austrailian Fair, Blue Lilac, Camellia, Debonair, Friendship,
Lady Killer, Life Flame, Old Gold, Oscar, Rose Spire, Sam
Smith, Sylvia, Thunderbird, Winter Gladioli,

 And 4 miniature cvr’s like Canberra, Jolly Joker, Psittacinus

hybrid, Red Canna, for growing under shimla hill condition.
 IIHR Bangalore collected a wide array of gladiolus
germplasm from indigenous & exotic sources

 After thorough assessment on the basis of various

vegetative & floral traits, 11 cvr’s namely, cherry blossom,
beauty spot, friendship, jo wagenaar, melody, picardy,
snow princes, tintorente, tropic seas, water melon pink &
wild rose, were recommended for commercial cultivation
for cut flower & garden display purpose for Bangalore and
other places with identical climatic condition.

(Negi et al., 1981)

 Horticultural experiment & training center, Chaubattia,
Almora recommended, Apple blossom, Australian Dust,
Australian Sunday Best, Friendship, Geliber Herald,
House of Orange, Mazolia, Oscar, & Prof.Goudrin for UP
Hill condition.

 The varieties Emerald Queen, Melody & Snow Princes

were recommended by PAU Ludhiana for commercial
cultivation in Punjab state
 Development of new varieties

 Work on the improvement through hybridization was started

in 1956 at Raj Niwas, Shimla by Bajrang Bahadur Bhadri.
(Lft. Governor of HP). By the end of 1963, a number of
varieties were developed by him.

1. Bhadri Bkue Beauty (Blue with chocolate brown throat)

2. Bhadri Bright Red (Bright Red)
3. Bhadri Fortune (light purple with deep purple specks)
4. Bhadri Lemon Queen (yellow with red blotch)
5. Bhadri Little White (White)
6. Bhadri Purple Queen (Deep purple)
1. Bhadri Rose Glory (Rose pink with white throat)
2. Bhadri Tricolour (Pink with yellow throat & white midrib
and base)
3. Bhadri Yellow Beauty ( Chrome yellow)
4. Raj Niwas Pride (Vermilion with dark red throat)
5. Rose of Heaven (Deep rose with yellow throat)
6. Zakir Hussain (orange pink with vermilion streaks)

 Planting material of all these cvr’s are handed over to

Regional Fruit Research Station, Mashobra(HP)
 Hybridization work at IIHR
 A large number of hybrids were raised at the IIHR B’lore.
 These hybrids were evaluated thoroughly for various traits for 2-3
seasons. Performance trails of very promising hybrids along with
standard cvr’s were conducted for 3 years.

 Based on performance in the replicated trials, 6 hybrids were finally

selected & released as-

1. “Meera” (G.P.1 x Friendship): spikes robust & 90 cm long. Florets

snow white, 18/spike.

2. “Nazrana” ( Black Jack x Friendship) strong spikes, attractive & 105

cm long. Florets Cardinal Red with yellow flash in throat, 18/spike
3. Poonam (Geliber Herald x R.N 121): spikes bewitching & 98
cm long. Florets Dresden yellow with mimosa yellow blotch,
17/spike

4. Sapna (Green Woodpecker x Friendship): strong spikes, 83

cm long. Florets Barium Yellow with Primrose yellow blotch &
mandarin yellow tinge on margins, 17/spike.

5. Aarti (Shirley x Melody): attractive spikes & 63 cm long.

Florets poppy red with reddish purple & Canary Yellow blotch
& mandarin red spots, 11/spike
 6.Apsara (Black Jack x Friendship): strong spikes, 98 cm
long. Florets Ruby red with Barium yellow flecks in throat,
18/spike

 Among these varieties, “Nazrana” “Poonam” & “Sapna”

have been recommended for commercial cultivation under
bangalore conditions. The variety Poonam has also been
recommended for growing under UP hill conditions.
 IIHR Varieties
1. Aarti 13. Shobha 23. Bharat
2. Apsara 14. Sindur 24. Sundari
3. Darshan
15. Tilak 25. Benazeer
4. Dhiraj
5. Kumkum
16. ArkaKesar 26. Chitralekha
6. Meera 17. Arka Suvarna 27. Dilruba
7. Nazrana 18. Aikta 28. Geetanjali
8. Poonam 19. Anuradha 29. Jogan
9. Sapna 20. Arunodaya 30. Nartaki
10. Sagar
21. Ashirwad 31.Nazneen
11. Shakti
22. Basant 32.Shubham
 Arka Kesar
Dhiraj

Kum Kum Darshan

 Promising Gladiolus Hybrids

Hybrid
Hybrid
Hybrid 87-1-1
86-3-4
87-1-1 Hybrid 84-7-11
 Recent varieties of IIHR
 Arka Amar : (Water Melon X Arthi)

 Arka Gold: (Griabi X Gold medal 412)

 Arka Kesar (Wings glory X sagar)

 Arka Suvarna

 Arka Naveen
 Breeding work at IARI
 Efforts made at IARI New Delhi for breeding new varieties for subtropical
conditions through hybridization resulted in development of 4 new
varieties, namely,

1. Agni Rekha (OP seedling of cv Sylvia): florets fire red with

saffron yellow blotch & scarlet stripes, 18/spike.

2. Mayur (OP seedling of cv Sylvia): florets Lilac purple with dark

purple throat, 20/spike.

3. Pusa Suhagin (OP seedling of cv Sylvia): spikes 91 cm long.

Florets Ruby Red with barium yellow streaks 18/spike

4. Suchitra (Sylvia x Jo Wagenaar): florets Camellia Rose with

stripes of vermillion, & purple blotch, 22/spike
 Pusa Gunjan
 Pusaa Bindiya
 Shubhangini
 Punjab Dawn
 Punjab Morning
 Sagar
 Pusa Sukanya
 Pusa Archana
 Recent cvs. by IARI
 'Urmi',
 'Jyotsana',
 'Gulaal',
 'Shabnam',
 Urvashi

 Pusa Kiran
 Pusa Shubham
 NBRI Lucknow (20 var)
1. Archana (Sylvia x Friendship): spikes 80 cm long with
branching habit. Florets Begonia Purple with a central white
streak on petals, 16-18 /spike

2. Arun (Sylvia x Friendship): spikes 80 cm long & branched.

Florets vermilion, inner lower 2 petals having a streak in center,
half yellow & half cardinal red, 16-18/spike

3. Basant Bahar (Self-pollinated seedling of cv. Tunia’s Challenge)

spikes 50 cm long. Florets Empire yellow. 14/spike

4. Gazel (seedling of cv,White Friendship): spikes 35 cm long.

Florets Fuchsia Pink with darker tips & linear shading, 14-
18/spike
 Hans : (Friendship x G. tristis)
 Indrani : (Friendship x G. tristis)
 Jawla: (seedling of G. psittacinus hybrid)
 Kalima : (OP seedling of cv. Sylvia)
 Kohra : (Sylvia x King Lear)
 Manhar : (Friendship x G. tristis)
 Manisha : (Friendship x G. tristis)
 Manmohan : (Friendship x G. tristis)
 Manohar : (Friendship x G. tristis)
 Mohini: (Friendship x G. tristis)
 Mridhula : (Friendship x G. tristis)
 Mukta : (Friendship x G. tristis)
 Pitamber : (Friendship x G. tristis)
 Priyadarshani : (seedling of cv Lavanesque)
 Sada Bahar, Sanyukta, Smitha Triloki
 Horticultural experiment & training center,
Chaubattia, Almora
1. Chaubattia Ankur (Oscar x friendship): spikes 85 cm long.
Florets Dutch vermilion, 16/spike

2. Chaubattia Arunima (Oscar x Motherfisher ): spikes 89 cm.

florets Mandarin red with white stripes, 18/spike

3. Chaubattia Shobhit (Meria Goretti x Tropic seas): 86 cm.

florets red purple, 16/spike

4. Caubattia Tipti (Sunny Boy x Oscar): spikes 87 cm long.

Florets Chartreuse Green with pink stripes, 17/spike
 Mutation breeding
Many cvr’s are available in commerce by spontaneous mutation &
only a few through induced ones

Spontaneous mutation:
• In india 1st spontaneous mutant was observed in Salmons
Sensation in 1975 by Mishra. Later it was also detected in the
variety Ratna’s Butterfly (1982), were the mutated colour
appeared on the petals as well as inside the flowers.

Induced mutation:
 Physical mutagens:- certain variations obtained through
Gamma radiation, but these variations did not persist further, in
vM2 generation these abnormalities disappeared because of
diplomatic selection of the tissues.
 It was further reported that the gladiolus cormels were less
sensitive to irradiation & survival at higher dose was greater than
other bulbous ornamentals and fast neutron treatment was more
effective

 LD50 was observed at 6 kR for Pfitzer’s sensation & 8 kR for

Vink,s Glory.

 Chimeral mutations were observed in Pfitzer’s Sensation at 4 kR

dose.

 A desirable & stable mutant with Shell Pink floret, observed in vM2
generation as a chimera in 1 kR treatment, was isolated from the
cultivar “Wild Rose”. This mutant was named & released as
‘Shobha’
‘Shobha in 1980 by IIHR.
 Dhaduk (1992) irradiated corms of 4 varieties, namely ‘Melody’ ,
G. psittacinus hybrid, ‘Pusa Suhagin’ and ‘Rose Supreme’ with
acute doses, 1, 3, 5, 7 & 10 kR of gamma rays.
 LD50 was found between 7& 10 kR. Five flower colour mutants
were isolated .

 The mutation effect was change in flower colour to lighter shades,

except in case of one mutant of ‘Pusa Suhagin’ were dark-
coloured mutant was induced.

 The change in flower color was associated with the corresponding

change in anthocyanin content (Florachrome A & B) of the petals.
 Mutant showed less content of Florachrome B than their parents

 This indicates the reduction in anthocyanin pigments in the petals

due to certain alteration in the synthesis of these pigments
 Chemical mutagens
 To study the effect of chemical mutagens in gladiolus, 4
varieties viz., Beauty spot, Mansoer, Melody and Jo
Wagenaar were treated with various concentrations of Ethyl
methane sulphonate (1-6%) at IIHR B’lore.

 One mutant having Vermilion colour with purple & yellow

blotch was observed in variety “Beauty Spot” in 5 %
treatment.

 Some variation in throat colour & placement of florets on

rachis were observed in the variety ‘Melody’
 Breeding for Disease Resistance

 The major limitation in commercial cultivation of gladiolus is a

wilt disease (Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. gladioli) hence,
breeding for resistance to Fusarium wilt is great importance.

 Screening programs undertaken by several workers have

reported resistance in many cultivars against Fusarium
oxysporum f. sp. Gladioli causing yellows in gladiolus.
Cultivars like ‘Albana’, ‘Apricot’, ‘Souvenir’,‘Hopman’s Glory’,
‘Sylvia’, ‘White Friendship’ and ‘White Prosperity 'are reported
to be resistant. while ‘Australian Fair’ and ‘Mansoor’ were
reported as tolerant to the disease (Sunita Chandel and Raj
Deepika 2010)
 Jagadish chandra et al.,(1995) studied the reaction of different
cvr’s & hybrids to Fusarium wilt under artificial conditions.
 ‘Australian Fair’ and ‘Mansoer’ were registered tolerant reaction.

Negi et al.(1991) made a large number of crosses involving 5

commercial but susceptible cvr’s & 4 Fusarium wilt tolerant cvr’s
 One hybrid was found to be resistant and 10 were found tolerant
to wilt.

 The resistant hybrid (82-11-90) and 2 tolerant hybrids (82-7-59 &

82-18-16) had good vegetative & floral characteristics
 De Haan et al. (2000) had developed multiplex PCR assay for
detection of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. gladioli race 1 from infected
corms.

 Dallavalle et al. (2002) performed RAPD analysis of the genomes of

nine gladiolus cvr’s with varying degrees of sensitivity to Wilt.

 The objective of their study was to differentiate between sensitive

and resistant gladiolus cultivars using DNA based analysis. About
14 primers with varying Taq polymerases and primer concentrations
were used for the RAPD analysis. Only five primers produced
polymorphic bands and all the tested growth stages provided similar
results.

 It has been shown that different tools are valuable in investigating

the variability of this fungus. Molecular techniques are very useful
for the detection of a pathogenic group of Fusarium sp. isolates
facilitating a preventive approach to the disease.
 Breeding for Fragrance
 Gladiolus cvr’s have beautiful florets, but they are without
fragrance.

 Attempt were made to incorporate gene’s for fragrance from

G.callianthus.

 Gladiolus L. is tetraploid (2n=60), while G.callianthus is

diploid (2n=30).

 It was observed that 4x X 2x was successful only when

tetraploid was used as female parent.

 Rao and Janakiram (1992) produced inter-specific hybrids

between Gladiolus L. cvr’s. and G.callianthus with mild
fragrance.
 Probably the first one to be advertised as a fragrant
gladiolus was Mibloom, an early white with a red spot in the
throat. Then came Incense, a small pink with yellow throat,
which was widely heralded for its fragrance.

 Then some one discovered – “New Era” was slightly

fragrant.

 Later a creamy white sport of New Era named “Frilled

Fragrance”, was offered for sale. It was identical with New
Era except in color.

 Summer Fragrance, a Queen of Bremen seedling, was a

small ruffled rose pink with a light fragrance.
 Biotechnological approaches
1. Microprapogation: G. is propagated by corms & cormels. Many
hybrids produce only a few corms & cormels and thus, it takes
> 10 years to produce & commercialize a new cvr through
conventional method of propagation.

 Microprapogation is the only method to reduce this time lapse.

 Bajaj et al., and Bhojwani reported about micropropoagation of

gladiolus using agar as solidifying agent.

 As agar is most expensive component of media, a method of

micropropagation has been developed using Gerlite as
solidifying agent which cost less (Rao et al., 1991)
 Isolation of protoplasts

 This technique is emerging as a powerful tool to overcome

crossability barriers. Protoplasts are important for somatic
hybridization.

 In india, not much work has been done on isolation of

protoplast in bulbous ornamental plants.

 Rao et al.,(1991) reported about development of protocols

for isolation of protoplasts from leaf mesophyll of gladiolus.
 In vitro mutagenesis
 Induction of mutations through tissue culture takes less
time in producing new types.

 Rao et al., (1990) irradiated actively growing

undifferentiated green calli from anthers of gladiolus cv.
“Picardy” with gamma rays at 0.5, 1.0, 5.0 & 10.0 kR.

 LD 50 was found to be between 1.0 & 5 kR. In 5.0 & 10 kR

treatments, calli turned brown & eventually necrosed.

 Shoot buds & shoots were obtained in 0.5 & 1.0 kR

treatments.
 Molecular Breeding
 RAPD analysis was reported to study the classification and
genetic relationship of 26 cultivars of G. hybridus (JinGang et
al.,2008).
 Approximately 33 arbitrary primers screened from 520 primers
were used for further PCR and diversity analysis.
 A total of 206 RAPD sites were detected with a mean of 6.24
fragments amplified for each primer.
 A total of 185 polymorphic DNA fragments were detected among
all the 206 amplified fragments, which accounted for a high level
(89.8%) of the total & could be used for identification of different
cvr’s
 Results revealed that the germplasm resource of G. hybridus cut
flower cvr’s had a narrow genetic base on the molecular level
some genetic relationship existed in summer large- flowers of
G.hybridus cvr’s
 Takastu et al., (2005) used RAPD to draw the relationships among
wild gladiolus species.

 Inter specific hybridization was conducted based on a dendrogram

and F1 seeds were derived from seven reciprocal crosses.

 However, mature seeds were not obtained from the crosses using
Gladiolus orchidiflorus as the female parent.

 A segregation population (F2) derived from the inter specific

hybridization between G. tristis & G. gracilis was made for the
selection of a RAPD marker linked to a floral scent trait of the wild
species G.gracilis
 The floral scent of each plant was evaluated by sensory
evaluation in the F2 plants and it was shown that a
segregation ratio of scented plant and non-scented plant
fit a 1:3 (Chi2 value = 0.09) ratio.

 This suggest that the floral scent trait of G.gracilis might

be under the control of a single recessive gene
Case Studies
 M.V. Balaram & T. Janakiram.,2009

Performance of Indian & exotic gladiolus genotypes

 Studied the relative performance of some Indian (11) &

commercially grown exotic genotypes(24) on 26 characters
revealed that,

 Indian genotypes exhibit early sprouting, more shoots &

spikes/corm , early spike emergence & high corm multiplication
rate with larger & heavier corms.

 While exotic genotypes had larger florets, more florets open at

one time, longer spokes & high cormel multiplication rate.
 Since exotic cvr’s exhibited better spikes / plant characters
coupled with their exclusive colours which are of economic
importance, they are being grown on commercial scale.

 The study thus suggest the need for improving Indian

genotypes for both quantitative & qualitative trait to meet the
international quality.
 M.V. Balaram & T. Janakiram.,2009

Genetic variability in Gladiolus genotypes for corm characters

 Variability study among 35 genotypes(11 indian & 24 exotic ) for seven

corm characters (No. of daughter corms, polar corm diameter,
equatorial corm dia. Weight of daughter corm, No of cormels/corm, 25
cormel wt. propagation co-efficient) conducted at IIHR, B’lore.

 All genotypes exhibited wide range of No. of cormels/corm.

 For all 7 characters studied, the difference between Phenotypic &

genotypic co-efficient of variation were narrow, indicating less
environmental influences on their expression.
 High Phenotypic & Genotypic co-efficient of variation,
Heritability & Genetic advance recorded for no. of
daughter corm, no. of cormels/corm, & 25 cormel wt.

 Suggest selection of genotypes based on these traits for

further improvement through effective breeding
programm.
(Hemanth Kuma et al., 2008)

Combining Ability and Heterosis for Growth Characters

in Gladiolus (Gladiolus hybridus. Hort)

 The combining ability and heterobeltiosis analysis was

carried out in gladiolus based on 7 x 7 half diallel for
growth traits during 2006 to 2008 utilizing seven varieties
viz. American Beauty, Sylvia, Melody, Summer
Sunshine, Vedanapoli, Magic and Priscilla.

 The varieties American Beauty, Summer Sunshine and

Priscilla were good general combiners for many traits.
 The important hybrid exhibiting significant heterobeltiosis
and SCA effect are Sylvia x Priscilla and Sylvia x Melody.

 The range of heterobeltiosis for plant height varies from

-20.54 per cent to 14.72 per cent.

 For number of leaves it ranges between -13.86 to 17.31

per cent. Additive type of gene action was noticed for
many traits.
 (Anil Kumar et al., 2011)
Factors affecting in vitro formation of cormlets in Gladiolus
hybridus H. and their field performance
 Effect of no. of imp factors on in vitro cormlet formation was
investigated . Sucrose concentration of 232 mM was found to be
best for - higher number of cormlets/ flask, whereas, the average
mass of a cormlet increased with increase in sucrose concentration.

 Among three cultivars, maximum number of cormlets produced per

flask was recorded in cv ‘Her Majesty’, but the avg. cormlet mass
was higher in case of cv ‘Bright Eye’.

 Although the number of cormlets produced was found to be higher

at 30 0C when compared with 20 0C, the average cormlet mass was
higher at the lower temperature.
 Both the no. of cormlets / culture flask as well as the avg fresh
mass of a cormlet increased with increase in the size (volume) of
the culture flask used.

 The known inhibitors of gibberellin biosynthesis used in this study

suppressed cormlet formation, and the maximum inhibition was
recorded in case of Maleic acid Hydrazide.

 Polyamines were found to be beneficial for cormlet formation, and

amongst the polyamines used, Spermidine in the culture medium
resulted in maximum number of cormlet formation per culture
flask.
 Field trials indicated that the performance of such in vitro
produced cormlets was comparable to that of
conventionally produced cormels of the same weight
range.

 The plants raised from in vitro produced cormlets were

found to be morphologically similar to the mother plant.
 Yasumasa Takatsua 2001

Inter specific hybridization among wild Gladiolus species of

southern Africa, based on randomly amplified polymorphic
DNA markers

 They obtained information on the genetic relationship in

wild Gladiolus species through randomly amplifed
polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis.

 Out of the 140 tested primers, 32 amplifed a total of 133

RAPD bands in 33 Gladiolus species.

 The genetic distance was calculated from the data of these

RAPDs, and a dendrogram was generated.
 Inter specifc crosses were carried out in seven
combinations within or between clusters, and F1
seedlings were obtained from most combinations.

 The RAPD analysis showed that these F1 seedlings were

real hybrids. The results suggest that RAPD markers are
useful for detecting genetic relationships in Gladiolus
species, and for interspecifc crosses in breeding
programs.
 (T.Manjunath Rao et al., 2009)

Breeding Gladiolus For Resistance to Fusarium Wilt

 In order to overcome this problem in commercial cultivation,

hybridization was done involving different parental
combinations to develop resistant cultivars.

 Variability for resistance to wilt disease was observed

among the cultivars/hybrids selections.

 The hybrid selections were initially screened under field

conditions and then field resistant ones were subjected to
artificial inoculation with Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. gladioli
Race 1.
 Five genotypes viz., Hybrid Selection IIHRG 8, IIHRG 10, IIHRG
11, Pink Friendship and Psiittacinus hybrid was screened against
Fusarium wilt disease based on foliar symptoms.

 Among the genotypes evaluated, the lowest (3.33%) incidence of

disease was noticed in hybrid selection IIHRG 11 whereas the
cultivar 'Pink Friendship' had the highest (86.67%) disease
incidence

 These genotypes were evaluated for different traits and there was
a significant difference among the genotypes.

 The promising hybrid selections that showed resistance, also

have attractive floral traits. After maturity corms were harvested
and stored. When the corms were ready for planting they were
screened for corm rotting due to Fusarium.
 The percentages of healthy corms were more in hybrid
selection IIHRG 11 (96.23%) and in hybrid selection IIHRG
10 (94.44%).

 Maximum corm rot was in cultivar 'Pink Friendship'

(81.82%). Usually farmers use lot of fungicides to control
the disease, which in turn results in environmental
pollution and also increase the production cost.

 Thus new Gladiolus selections have a great potential in

eco friendly farming and also helps in increasing the
profitability to the farmers
Gladiolus Hybrid Selections at Pre-Release Stage
(Resistant to Fusarium Wilt)

IIHRG- 10
IIHRG -11
 (Pragya Ranjan et al., 2009)

Genetic relationships of Gladiolus cultivars inferred from

fluorescence based AFLP markers
 This study analyzed genetic relatedness of 54 gladiolus
cultivars using amplified fragment length polymorphism
(AFLP) markers.

 A total of 24 AFLP primer pairs with three samples were

initially screened, from which 9 primer sets that showed clear
scorable and highly polymorphic bands were selected for
AFLP reactions.

 Fluorescence-labeled amplification products were subjected

to electrophoresis and then analyzed using an automated
sequencer.
 A dendrogram was constructed by the unweighted pair group
method using the arithmetic average (UPGMA). The number of
AFLP fragments generated per primer set ranged from 10 to 151
with fragment sizes varying from 50 to 450 bp.

 A total of 660 AFLP fragments were detected, of which 658

(99.70%) were polymorphic. All the primers except E-AGG/M-CTA
displayed 100% polymorphism.

 All cultivars were clearly differentiated by their AFLP profiles. The

AFLP data were compared with previously obtained RAPD data
and combined to generate a common dendrogram.

 The first cluster was dominated with indigenously bred cultivars

while the second was dominated with exotic cultivars.
 This shows that most of the exotic cultivars as well as indigenous
cultivars are closely related with each other. However, two
indigenous cultivars viz., Pusa Suhagin and Pusa Archana share
genetic similarity with exotic cultivars.

 Among the genotypes selected for the investigation, Pusa Gunjan

was identified as the most distinct genotype.

 The AFLP markers developed will help future Gladiolus cultivar

identification, germplasm conservation and new cultivar
development.

 The assessed genetic relationships among gladiolus cultivars may

enhance the efficiency of breeding program by selecting desirable
parents with reduced breeding cycle