MICROPROPAGATION AND CRYOPRESERVATION OF THE RARE ENDEMIC <i>Colchicum figlalii</i> GERMPLASM

BACKGROUND: The natural population of Colchicum figlalii (Varol) Parolly & Eren grows in a narrow area of serpentine rock clearings at an altitude of 1900-2100 m in Southwestern Anatolia (Sandras Mountain, Mugla, Turkey). The species is regarded as endangered according to the IUCN Red List Categories. OBJECTIVE: To develop an optimum procedure for in vitro propagation and cryopreservation of germplasm of this rare endemic. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 281 bulbs were used as in vitro culture starting material and after surface sterilization, clean material was obtained from 157 of them. Woody Plant Medium (WPM), Olive Medium (OM), and Murashige and Skoog medium (MS) were used for in vitro culture establishment. RESULTS: The maximum regeneration rate (similar to 67.3%) was obtained after four weeks of incubation on OM. The calli were successfully induced by using OM supplemented with 10.7 mu M NAA from leaves of in vitro grown C. figlalii bulbs. A PVS2-vitrification procedure was used for cryopreservation of C. figlalii callus tissue. After cryo-storage, the best result for regeneration (66.7%) was obtained from calli treated with PVS2 for 75 min before plunging into liquid nitrogen. All rooted seedlings derived from cryopreserved calli were successfully acclimatized to greenhouse conditions. CONCLUSION: This study is an effective reference for future long-term conservation of similar species that are difficult to cryopreserve.