BackgroundThe Republic of Georgia (Sakartvelo in Georgian language) is part of the Caucasus biodiversity hotspot, and human agricultural plant use dates bat at least 6000 years. However, little ethnobiological research has been published from the region since the 1940s. Given the lack of recent research in the region, the present study we report on plant uses in Skartvelo (Republic of Georgia), Caucasus. We hypothesized that, (1) given the long tradition of plant use, and the isolation under Soviet rule, plant use both based on homegardens and wild harvesting would be more pronounced in Georgia than in the wiser region, (2) the Soviet occupation would have had broad influence on plant use, and (3) there would still be incidence of knowledge loss despite wide plant use.MethodsFieldwork was conducted in Khevsureti, Samtskhe-Javakheti, Tusheti, Svaneti, and Racha in July–August 2013, July–August 2014, and September–October 2015. Interviews using semi-structured questionnaires were conducted with 170 participants (80 women and 90 men) after obtaining their oral prior informed consent. All interviews were carried out in the participants’ homes and gardens by native speakers of Georgian and its local dialects (Svan, Tush, Khevsur, Psav), or, where participants spoke these as their native language, Armenian, Russian, or Greek.ResultsIn the present study we encountered 480 plant species belonging to 249 genera of 95 families being used in the research region. The highest number of species and of unique species were reported from the remote Tusheti-Khevsureti region. Informant consensus and number of use reports were highest for each region in the food and medicinal use categories. Of the 480 plants being used in the research region 282 species were exclusively wild-harvested, 103 were grown in homegardens, and 84 were both grown in gardens and sourced in the wild.ConclusionsPlant species, and uses, found in our study, both for Georgia in general, as well as for its regions, showed clear relations to the wider Caucasus - Asia Minor - Balkans cultural complex. However, plant use in Georgia was much more diverse than reported in other studies from Eurasia.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13002-016-0110-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Georgia is known for its extraordinary rich biodiversity of plants, which may now be threatened due to the spread of invasive alien plants (IAP). We aimed to identify (1) the most prominent IAP out of 9 selected potentially invasive and harmful IAP by predicting their distribution under current and future climate conditions in Georgia as well as in its 43 Protected Areas, as a proxy for areas of high conservation value and (2) the Protected Areas most at risk due to these IAP. We used species distribution models based on 6 climate variables and then filtered the obtained distributions based on maps of soil and vegetation types, and on recorded occurrences, resulting into the predicted ecological distribution of the 9 IAP'sat a resolution of 1 km 2 . Our habitat suitability analysis showed that Ambrosia artemisiifolia, (24 and 40 %) Robinia pseudoacaia (14 and 19 %) and Ailanthus altissima (9 and 11 %) have the largest potential distribution (predicted % area covered), with A. altissima the potentially most increasing one over the next 50 years (from 9 to 13 % and from 11 to 25 %), for Georgia and the Protected Areas, respectively. Furthermore, our results indicate two areas in Georgia that are under specifically high threat, i.e. the area around Tbilisi and an area in the western part of Georgia (Adjara), both at lower altitudes. Our procedure to identify areas of high conservation value most at risk by IAP has been applied for the first time. It will help national authorities in prioritizing their measures to protect Georgia's outstanding biodiversity from the negative impact of IAP.

The Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change Project set out to improve the diversity, quantity, and accessibility of germplasm collections of crop wild relatives (CWR). Between 2013 and 2018, partners in 25 countries, heirs to the globetrotting legacy of Nikolai Vavilov, undertook seed collecting expeditions targeting CWR of 28 crops of global significance for agriculture. Here, we describe the implementation of the 25 national collecting programs and present the key results. A total of 4587 unique seed samples from at least 355 CWR taxa were collected, conserved ex situ, safety duplicated in national and international genebanks, and made available through the Multilateral System (MLS) of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (Plant Treaty). Collections of CWR were made for all 28 targeted crops. Potato and eggplant were the most collected genepools, although the greatest number of primary genepool collections were made for rice. Overall, alfalfa, Bambara groundnut, grass pea and wheat were the genepools for which targets were best achieved. Several of the newly collected samples have already been used in pre-breeding programs to adapt crops to future challenges.

A bioactivity guided program exploring the interaction of phytochemicals in the entire plant Primula macrocalyx with the organic anion transporters (OAT1 and OAT3) and microorganisms led to the elucidation of ten known flavones ( 1 – 4 , 6 – 10 , 12 ) and two previously undescribed flavones ( 5 , 11 ). The structures of the compounds were determined by extensive analysis of spectroscopic data, as well as by comparison with data from previous reports. Two known flavones ( 9 , 12 ) are reported for the first time from the family Primulaceae. All compounds were evaluated for inhibition of OAT1 and OAT3. Six flavones ( 2 , 3 , 6 – 8 , 12 ) showed potent inhibitory activity on OAT1, while seven flavones ( 2 , 3 , 6 – 9 , 12 ) showed marked inhibitory activity on OAT3, with IC 50 ≤ 10.0 µ M. Antimicrobial activities of crude fractions against sixteen microorganisms were tested to give a target yeast strain Candida rugosa for further evaluation of MICs on the isolates. Three flavones ( 7 , 8 , 12 ) showed marked antifungal activity with MIC < 2.0 µ M. To our knowledge, this study is the first to evaluate these flavones as inhibitors of the OAT1 and OAT3, and as antifungal agents.