Propagation of Juniper Species by Plant Tissue Culture: A Mini-Review

Abstract

The genus Juniperus (of the Cupressaceae family) is the second most prevalent group of conifers on Earth. Juniper species are widely dispersed in the Northern Hemisphere, in Europe and Asia, and in Africa and Central America. Juniper species are resistant to dry climates and can adapt to difficult environmental conditions. Most juniper species are important in both ecological and economic terms. However, today, many forests in which junipers occur are being reduced in size due to both natural causes (fires, for example) and human activity (uncontrolled exploitation of forests, etc.). Also, climate changes may have adversely affected the range of populations of different juniper species. For this reason, some juniper species are now categorized as rare or endangered, and require immediate protective action. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop effective strategies for ex situ conservation, including reliable procedures for Juniperus sp. reproduction for future reintroduction and restoration programs. The conservation strategies used until now with traditional forestry techniques (seed propagation, rooted cuttings, grafting) have not been satisfactory in many cases. Thus, increasing attention is being paid to the possibilities offered by in vitro culture technology, which enables the conservation and mass clonal propagation of different coniferous tree species. In this mini-review, we summarize the current state of knowledge regarding the use of various methods of the propagation of selected Juniperus species, with a particular emphasis on in vitro culture techniques.

Mass propagation of Juniperus procera Hoechst. Ex Endl. From seedling and screening of bioactive compounds in shoot and callus extract

“…Moreover, the best induced callus from Juniperus species (Juniperus excelsa, Juniperus horizontalis, and Juniperus chinensis) is obtained in WPM medium with 0.50 mg/L of BAP and 0.50 mg/L, 2, 4-D [28]. In turn, in coniferous species, an appropriate ratio of auxin and cytokinin is requested to stimulate the calli from explants reported by [1]. Although, Muranaka [42] stated that, callus was induced from Juniperus chinensis after application of higher concentrations of NAA (3.0 mg L − 1 ) and KIN (0.2 mg L − 1 ).…”

“…The color of produced calli changed to a brownish but, sub-culturing over 20 days eliminated this problem. It is known that the induced calli may quickly turn brownish in juniper species [1]. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of shoot and calli of Juniperus procera extract…”

“…The genus Juniperus L. is the second most prevalent group of conifer s on Earth [1]. Juniperus procera is coniferous evergreen tree or shrub of the Cupressaceae family.…”

“…Since, very low potential for regeneration from seeds was reported. Thus, increasing attention has been paid to the possibilities offered by in vitro culture technology, which could be an alternative method for conservation and mass clonal propagation of different coniferous tree species [1]. In contrast, plant in vitro propagation is not limited by environment and seasons, and can overcome the problems of traditional breeding techniques.…”

“…A few studies have been done and reported on the subject of juniper in vitro propagation [2,[28][29][30][31][32]. Thus, in vitro propagation of juniper species should be exaggerated because, the micropropagation maybe the only alternative methods of the reproduction of this group of plants [1]. It should be prioritized for the possibility of conservation [33], and mass propagation for pharmaceutical uses.…”