APPROACHES TO THE CONSERVATION OF Iris tigridia BUNGE – THE ENDANGERED SPECIES OF FLORA IN RUSSIA

The results concerning the techniques of ex situ conservation of Iris tigridia Bunge – a rare species of Russia are represented. In the Central Siberian Botanical Garden (Novosibirsk), the species was approved to be little promising during the introduction. The most efficient strategy of the conservation of its populations in nature is the reduction of anthropogenic pressure. Additional approaches, like breeding plants from seeds and tissue culture propagation, can complement the programme of the recruitment of its natural populations. In this study, efficient protocols were developed for the regeneration of I. tigridia plants via organogenesis from immature zygotic embryos, which were cultivated on modified MS and ½ MS media supplemented with thidiazuron (TDZ) or 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D). The efficiency of callus formation differed significantly between 2,4-D (50%) and TDZ (37.6%) morphogenesis induction treatments. The cultivation of embryogenic callus resulted in further development of multiplied shoots, which appeared with a frequency of 48.5% after calluses transferring to the media with 0.2 mg l−11-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) and 1.0 mg l−16-benzylaminopurine (BAP). After successful rooting and ex vitro acclimatization, the plants were grown in the field collections of the CSBG.