Propagation of the endangered Del Mar manzanita (Arctostaphylos glandulosa ssp. crassifolia) through tissue culture

The Del Mar manzanita (Arctostaphylos glandulosa ssp. crassifolia) is an endangered perennial shrub native to San Diego County, CA, USA. Although their seeds may be banked for years, germination rates are exceedingly low. Scarification, acid exposure, and heat shock require considerable time and effort to achieve improved germination rates. Tissue culture is a viable alternative. […]

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Shoot Tips for Long-term Preservation

When genebanks must cryopreserve a diverse range of clonally propagated plants, it is often most effective to preserve their shoot tips–tiny growing points in their tissues. USDA’s Remi Bonnart discusses the circumstances for which shoot tip cryopreservation is appropriate, and shows how a variety of shoot tips preservation methods are used to preserve grape, strawberry, […]

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An Introduction to Plant Clonal Cryopreservation

Cryopreservation is a technology that allows genebanks to preserve plant genetic resources on a long-term basis. USDA’s Jennifer Kendall discusses how cryopreservation is used at the National Laboratory for Genetic Resources Preservation to preserve clonal material–that is tissue that contains the exact same genetic makeup as the source plant–in liquid nitrogen. This video was made […]

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Orchid Micropropagation

Screenshot of Atlanta Botanic Garden's video on orchid propagation

Micropropagation is an effective conservation tool for producing tissue clones or for germinating spore or seed in vitro. Orchids are known to be quite difficult to propagate as they typically require fungal symbionts during their germination. In this video, Jason Ligon and Tito Tomei explain how to propagate orchids in the lab using sterile micropropagation […]

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Quercus dumosa, Nuttall’s Scrub Oak, Coastal Sage Scrub Oak

Screenshot of "Quercus dumosa, Nuttall's Scrub Oak, Coastal Sage Scrub Oak" video

San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance postdoc, Dr. Joe Ree, presented some of his work with Quercus dumosa at the 2021 Channel Islands and California Native Oak Workshop. Dr. Ree is working with tissue cultures to try and establish a method of propagating this rare scrub oak. He hopes to further preserve the tissues using cryopreservation […]

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Conservation Through Cultivation of Live-forevers

Screenshot of "Conservation Through Cultivation of Live-forevers" video

Kevin Alison from the Tree of Life Nursery presents Dudleya propagation research that the nursery is currently conducting. He addresses threats the genus Dudleya faces including habitat loss and extreme poaching. Utilizing tissue culture methods, Kevin seeks to bring more of these charismatic species to the nursery trade. He hopes that readily available plants can […]

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Strategies to Cryopreserve Embryonic Axes of North American Oaks: Interactions of Moisture, Cryoprotectants and LN Exposure Rates in Quercus imbricaria

Screenshot of Strategies to Cryopreserve Embryonic Axes of North American Oaks: Interactions of Moisture, Cryoprotectants and LN Exposure Rates in Quercus imbricaria video

Jose Faria, Lisa Hill, Christina Walters, Tree Seed Laboratory, Federal University of Lavras, Brazil, USDA-ARS, National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation, United States Quercus imbricaria is included in the red oak group (Lobatae) and is broadly distributed in the Midwestern US. The embryonic axes are about 1 mg dry mass and have 0.68 g H2O/g […]

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Ex-Situ Conservation of Endangered Succulent Plants Using Cryobiotechnology Tools: The Aloe and Agave Cases

Screenshot of Ex-Situ Conservation of Endangered Succulent Plants Using Cryobiotechnology Tools video

Josette Tin, Taylor La Val, Sean Lahmeyer, John Trager, Raquel Folgado*, The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, CA., United States, *Speaker Succulent plants are significant to the horticultural industry, and they are also sources for food, fibers, medicines, and cosmetics. The main threats for the wild population of these often emblematic […]

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Assessment of Genetic Stability During Cryopreservation of Vanilla (V. planifolia) Shoot-tips Using ISSR Markers

Screenshot of Assessment of Genetic Stability During Cryopreservation of Vanilla (V. planifolia) Shoot-tips Using ISSR Markers video

Maria Teresa Gonzalez-Arnao, Pedro Isidro-Adolfo, Maria F. NetzahualcoyotlMata, Lourdes G. Iglesias Andreu, Jaime Martínez-Castillo, University of Veracruz, INBIOTECA, CICY,  In this study we used six selected ISSR primers (T05, T06, C07, UBC823, UBC825, UBC848) to evaluate the genetic stability during cryopreservation of vanilla (V. planifolia) shoot-tips subjected to a Droplet-Vitrification (D-V) protocol using PVS2 solution for dehydration. We […]

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Cryopreserving Clonal Crops: Increasing Processing Efficiency in Genebanks

Screenshot of Cryopreserving Clonal Crops: Increasing Processing Efficiency in Genebanks video

Gayle Volk, USDA ARS National Laboratory for Genetic Resources Preservation, United States The USDA-ARS National Plant Germplasm System has over 30,000 clonally maintained accessions within its field, screenhouse, greenhouse, and tissue culture collections. These fruit, nut, tuber, and bulb crop collections are usually not duplicated at secondary locations and are vulnerable to biotic, abiotic, and climatic threats. Only about 15% of […]

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Cryobiotechnology for Maintaining Genetic Diversity of Exceptional Species: The Case of Crotalaria avonensis

Screenshot of Cryobiotechnology for maintaining genetic diversity of exceptional species: The case of Crotalaria avonensis video

Valerie Pence and Megan Philpott, Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden Crotalaria avonensis is a Florida endemic found in three populations and characterized by low seed production. In the late 1990s, CREW developed protocols for tissue culture propagation from field collected shoot cuttings as well as cryopreservation methods. In order to develop a genetically representative collection […]

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Conserving Wild Exceptional Species Case Study: Crotalaria avonensis

Screenshot from Conserving Wild Exceptional Species Case Study: Crotalaria avonensis video

Joyce Maschinski, Center for Plant Conservation and Valerie Pence, Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden Crotalaria avonensis is an endangered legume endemic to Florida that produces few seeds. In vitro shoot cultures of multiple genotypes have been grown at CREW to provide genetic diversity for restoration and for tissue cryopreservation. These cultures harbor a bacterium, identified […]

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Cryopreserving Endangered Plants and Seeds

Although many rare plants have seeds that can be stored by conventional methods, not all species have seeds that can live after drying or freezing. Sometimes called “Exceptional plants, ” these species have a wide range of variation. Some produce few or no seeds, thus they cannot be seed banked, others have seeds or spores […]

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In Vitro Seed Germination and Seedling Development of Spiranthes Casei for Ex Situ Conservation

Screenshot from In Vitro Seed Germination and Seedling Development of Spiranthes Casei for Ex Situ Conservation video

Peter Zale and Matt Taylor, Longwood Gardens Several species of Spiranthes native to the Eastern U.S. are considered rare, threatened or endangered by federal and state agencies. Using the Pennsylvania endangered Spiranthes casei as a model species, experiments were designed to determine optimal conditions for in vitro seed germination and seedling development. Seeds were collected […]

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