Tuesday, August 9, 2016
Georgia Ballroom (Sheraton Hotel Atlanta)
Native and endemic species have always faced two common yet global conservation threats by overharvesting and habit fragmentation having historical resulted in the decreased fitness, extirpation, and extinction of various fauna and flora species through time on this planet. Of them, plants are compromised the most; they are non-motile which restricts their unique ranges, are naturally constrained by biotic and abiotic elements which can influence seed dispersals, and are artificially inhibited by human activities which has led to reductions in floral diversity across the globe. In this study, two critically threatened Floridian orchids (Oncidium ensatum and Bletia purpurea) were selected based on published Coefficients of Conservatism Values (CCV rating). Tissue culture carried out using seed-derived protocorm-like bodies (PLBs), through production of artificial/synthetic seeds (syn. Seed) by encapsulation of (PLBs) induced from wild seed. PLBs (2 to 4 mm in size) were chosen for the encapsulation process using 3, 4, 5% alginate, with three molar concentrations of CaCl2 (25, 50, 75 and 100 µM), leaving a control treatment of PLBs without encapsulation. PLBs were exposed to different ranges of temperature (0, 5, 10, 15, and 20oC) and storage duration treatments (15, 30, 45, 60, 75, and 90d). The protocol was verified using tetrazolium chloride (TTC) assays to detect the PLBs’ viability ensuring that the embryos’membrane would not be compromised, which can cause detrimental effects to plant growth and development. In conclusion, Florida is accented to be a sub-tropical hot-spot with its’ related rare, native and endemic species who are exposed to the factors listed above, with the addition of sea level rise, saltwater intrusion, and habitat pollution. The aim of this research was to introduce syn. seed production as potential propagation material for commercial floriculturist and as an alternative ex-situ technique that can be used by researcher and gene-banks to transport genetic material worldwide.