Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources: Strategies, Progress and Prospect

This book discusses validated in-vitro biotechnological interventions that have reshaped the landscape of plant genetic resource conservation. It covers essential topics such as collection processes, disease indexing, in-vitro culture establishment, multiplication techniques, and storage solutions ranging from short- to long-term strategies like cryopreservation. By addressing the challenges of ex-situ conservation management, this work offers a guide to preserving rare and endangered plants against the backdrop of climate change and unsustainable utilization. The chapters delve into critical themes such as slow growth strategies and synthetic seed technology for mid-term storage solutions.

This book is for academicians, postgraduate students, and researchers in botany and plant biotechnology sectors, as well as molecular biologists and conservation enthusiasts.

Saikat Gantait is an assistant professor at Crop Research Unit (Genetics and Plant Breeding), Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, India. Following the completion of his PhD in biotechnology from BCKV, he gained advanced research experience on in vitro germplasm conservation at Universiti Putra Malaysia during his post-doctoral work. His 18-year research work so far includes plant tissue culture, induced mutagenesis and polyploidization, encapsulation/synthetic seed and cryopreservation of plant germplasms. To date, Dr. Gantait has published more than 170 articles/chapters/books in peer-reviewed journals and books.

Pawel Chmielarz is a professor in natural sciences, working at the Institute of Dendrology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland. His research focuses on seed biology, plant in vitro culture, cryopreservation, germplasm ex situ conservation, and epigenetics. He served as an expert on cryopreservation in the Scientific Board of the Kostrzyca Forest Gene Bank. He examines seeds and seedlings of forest tree species in changing climates. Working on the plant in vitro culture, he cloned 800-year-old monumental oaks. To date, Prof. Chmielarz has published more than 90 articles/chapters in peer-reviewed journals and books.