Overview of the Success of In Vitro Culture for Ex Situ Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Endemic and Subendemic Native Plants of Romania

Abstract

Romania has a relatively high diversity of plant species, including 3829 vascular and 979 non-vascular spontaneous plant taxa (species and subspecies). Due to uncontrolled harvesting as well as other causes, including climate change and ecological collapse, the speed of species extinction and the narrowing of the genetic base of plant resources has been reported as a critical issue. Therefore, the national Red List of Romanian flora includes 1453 threatened taxa, of which 95 are endemic and 90 subendemic. Many of these have high ornamental, medicinal–cosmetic, and/or aromatic properties. The high extinction risk of these valuable plants has stimulated both the reconsideration of their vital importance as genetic resources and interest in finding effective methods for conservation. Cultivating these phytogenetic resources in a human-controlled environment is of high importance for effective ex situ conservation, which can further serve sustainable exploitation needs and may facilitate in situ conservation actions. In vitro culture is a powerful tool for producing elite plants for cultivation for different purposes. This review summarizes the current knowledge on in vitro multiplication of 22 endemic and subendemic native plants of Romania, examining the materials used, the treatments applied, and the results obtained in each stage of the micropropagation protocol (culture initiation, proliferation, rooting, and acclimatization). The findings from the reviewed studies are presented in a comparative way, and the potential of plant tissue culture in conservation and sustainable exploitation of these Romanian species is outlined.

Antioxidant and Antitumor Potential of Micropropagated Balkan Endemic Sideritis scardica Griseb

“…In recent years, attention has been largely focused on the problem of preserving plant biodiversity endangered by habitat destruction and ecological fragmentation, the uncontrolled collection of wild plants, inappropriate agricultural and forestry practices, urbanization and pollution [1]. Special consideration is given to the conservation of the gene pool of plant species with a high rate of extinction, not only to maintain botanical heritage, but also to preserve rare plants with valuable, and sometimes unique, medicinal properties [2,3].…”

Interdisciplinary perspectives on conservation and culture

“…Conservation and culture are also two promising research areas. The cultural context of conservation is very diverse, for example, there is the term in vitro culture (Ayuso et al, 2019;Radomir et al, 2023), slow food culture (Shumka et al, 2022), human culture (Wilcox et al, 2019), nonhuman culture (Shumka et al, 2022), culture of animal (Servheen & Gunther, 2022), culture of marine conservation technology (Jenkins, 2022), dan household culture (Singha & Eljamal, 2021). We also often find the context of cultural preservation such as cultural conservation (Fekrsanati & Marçal, 2022;Dolores et al, 2021;Di Turo & Medeghini, 2021), residents' spontaneous culture conservation (Yang et al, 2022), and cultural heritage conservation (Erdem Erbas, 2018;Baglioni et al, 2021;Korro Bañuelos et al, 2021;Di Turo & Medeghini, 2021).…”

A Sustainable Approach to In Vitro Propagation and Conservation of Salvia dominica L.: A Wild Medicinal Plant from Jordan

“…Wild plants, including S. dominica, are facing many threats to biodiversity in their natural habitats [8,14]. Previous research works depended on wild sources of the S. dominica plant from illegal collection, which threatens the wild plant source.…”

“…In addition to that, people collect S. dominica from the wild for medical uses without any restrictions and in an uncontrolled way. Many other reasons have also led to the degradation of S. dominica and other wild plants [8,9,14]. These include urbanization, the climate change crisis, deforestation, pollution, environmental disasters that cause destruction in plant and animal habitats, and the destruction of the soil composition, which is considered the plant's main living environment [8,9,14].…”

“…Many other reasons have also led to the degradation of S. dominica and other wild plants [8,9,14]. These include urbanization, the climate change crisis, deforestation, pollution, environmental disasters that cause destruction in plant and animal habitats, and the destruction of the soil composition, which is considered the plant's main living environment [8,9,14]. Therefore, most of the wild plants have become red-listed, and some plant species are now endangered or totally extinct in their natural environments, such as Salvia fruticose Mill in Jordan, which is now considered regionally extinct [8].…”