The small group of resurrection plants is a unique model which could help us in further understanding of abiotic stress tolerance. The most frequently used approach for investigations on gene functions in plant systems is genetic transformation. In this respect, the establishment of in vitro systems for regeneration and micro propagation is necessary. On the other hand, in vitro cultures of such rare plants could preserve their natural populations. Here, we present our procedure for in vitro regeneration and propagation of Haberlea rhodopensis -a resurrection plant species, endemic for the Balkan region.Numerous physiological and biochemical mechanisms allow plants to inhabit a wide range of arid environments, but in most cases, they are not able to protect them against prolonged water deficit. However, there is a small group of higher plants known as poikilohydric or resurrection plants, possessing unique desiccation tolerance of the vegetative tissues. Their fully mature leaves can lose up to 95% of the water content and then, upon re-watering, they become very fast rehydrated and fully photosynthetically active within several hours. In recent years, studies with these plants have contributed significantly in broadening our knowledge of the molecular regulation and physiology of dehydration tolerance in mature leaf tissue. Among them, the South-African plant species Craterostigma plantagineum is well recognized as a model system (Ingram and Bartels, 1996;Bartels and Salamini, 2001).As would be expected, most resurrection plant species are native to arid climates in the world such as southern Africa, southern America, and western Australia (Gaff, 1971). There, they inhabit ecological niches that are subjected to long periods of drought and are with shallow, sandy soils.Earlier in Bulgaria (Ganchev, 1950) it was shown that such habitats are not an obligatory prerequisite for the resurrection behavior. The Balkan region endemite Haberlea rhodopensis is a world record-holder in desiccation tolerance. It was established that, being dried for 31 months, this plant resumes its normal growth within hours after re-watering.There are no data for in vitro culture of Haberlea rhodopensis so far. Here, we present a simple and efficient procedure for regeneration and micropropagation.Plant material was collected from one of the natural habitats of the plant. We used various plant organs as explants for establishing of aseptic cultures. There were great problems with obtaining such cultures due to the morphology of Habelrea leaves and roots. Finally, we were able to develop in vitro cultures using seeds The seeds were surface sterilized with 70% ethanol for 1 min, followed by 6-10 min treatment with commercial bleach and 3-5 min with 0.1% HgCl 2 with subsequent three times washing with sterile distilled water.The seeds were germinated on MS (Murashige and Skoog, 1962) basal medium. The germination Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture (2005) 80: 115-118 Ó Springer 2005