The Balkan Region represents one of the European major centers of plant diversity, with a substantial number of endemic genera and species. There is an urgent requirement to clarify and improve the methodologies and investigations that enable scientists to conserve, manage and utilize plants and their habitats in this region. We developed ex situ conservation strategies for selected rare and/or endangered plant species, to complement existing long-term in situ conservation efforts. The assessment of genetic diversity in extant populations, as well as establishment and maintenance of seed and/or in vitro germplasm collections which are adopted to fulfill an adequate genetic representation of the genetic makeup of species, is performed.

This project comprises a group of research tasks centered around the common use of in vitro culture techniques. They include:

Morphogenesis in vitro: Research on shoot regeneration and multiplication, rhyzogenesis, somatic embriogenesis and androgenesis are done on Allium schoenoprassum, Frittilaria meleagris, Iris reichenbachii, Arabidopsis thaliana, Pinus peuce, Pinus heldreichii and wheat, birds-foot trefoil and cabbage subspecies. Protocols designed for specific organogenesis pathways are elaborated and confirmed with cytological and histological studies. Effect of GA3 are studied in regeneration of spinach and bird-foot trefoil. Interaction of GA3 with other hormones is studied by use of light and scanning electron microscopy an in situ hybridization. Following the expression of genes for GA20 oxidase, KNOX/STM and LAS orthologues. Senescence and apoptosis are studied on tobacco leaves.