Graveyards in Turkey are widely known among orchidologists as places where several orchid (Orchidaceae) taxa can be found, including some very rare and localized ones. Graveyards are less strongly affected by landscape-altering human activities than other habitats because of their special cultural roles and religious privileges. In this study we performed a comprehensive survey of Turkish graveyards as orchid habitats. In total, 300 graveyards were studied in 30 provinces of Turkey in 2014. Altogether, we found 86 orchid taxa (almost half of the known Turkish orchid flora) in 208 graveyards. Among the studied provinces, Muğla and Antalya, in the southwest, emerged as peaks of taxon richness. This finding is in accordance with the overall biogeographic pattern of orchid diversity in Turkey. Our survey also contributes new floristic data to the orchid flora of Turkey. Additionally we documented salep collection in ten graveyards from six provinces involving nine taxa. We conclude that the occurrence of orchids in Turkish graveyards is not a rare phenomenon, and thus graveyards can be important refuges for orchids in the changing economic and agricultural circumstances of Turkey.
Due to the increasing demand and over-collection of orchids from nature to produce salep, scientists have been led to search for more efficient ways to propagate these specific orchids in vitro. This present study compares germination performances of two commercial (Orchimax and Knudson C) and one specially prepared orchid growth media (SV) on economically and medicinally important orchids used to make salep; Anacamptis pyramidalis (L.) L.C. Rich, Anacamptis morio (L.) R.M. Bateman, Pridgeon & M.W. Chase subsp. morio, Dactylorhiza romana (seb.) Soo, Neotinea tridentata (Scop.) R.M. Bateman, Pridgeon & M.W. Chase and further aims to obtain a mature orchid plant by following the natural environmental cycle. Significant differences in seed germination and protocorm development were observed. Asymbiotic germination tests showed that the specially prepared growth media performed better than the commercial media by 79.11% germination rate. Also, that A. morio subsp. morio had the best germination rate by 88.91%. Protocorms developed in the sixteenth week after sowing. Soil was collected from the natural habitat of each species and was used as a potting substrate, and this helped orchids to pass their initial acclimatization stage. Regeneration success of orchids for in vitro conditions could be increased by using SV growth medium, following their natural seasonal cycle and using specific substrates from their respective habitats.
DNA Barcoding in Terrestrial Plants: Investigation of Some DNA Barcode RegionsAbstract: DNA barcoding is a technique that has been widely used to identify species and discover phylogenetic utilities of species for last 30 years. The main goal of this technique is to discriminate organisms at species level by short DNA fragments originated from nucleus or plastids. Although nucleus originated barcoding regions provide more data for species identification rather than plastid regions, none of the single-locus regions is adequate for universality and provides enough data for comparing plant groups. There is no barcoding region available to be used for all plant groups. Therefore, combining more than one barcoding regions could improve resolution.Using short DNA fragments as barcoding region is achieved to top saturation and new techniques are being studied by researchers. The whole chloroplast genome has enormous data and this data could provide enough specificity for universal barcoding for land plants.
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