The press service of the Kuril Nature Reserve announced that scientists from the N.I. Vavilov All-Russian Institute of Plant Genetic Resources have completed their field work on Kunashir and Shikotan Islands. As part of the expedition, they searched for wild relatives of cultivated plants and collected samples to replenish the institute's herbarium.
Wild relatives of cultivated plants are species that share common ancestors with currently existing agricultural crops. Specialists paid particular attention to promising plants that could be used in agriculture as fodder crops. The Kuril Islands are home to unique local species of fruit and berry crops: strawberries, raspberries, actinidia, Schisandra chinensis, and grapes. Large areas on Kunashir are occupied by thickets of bamboo grass. According to scientists, it could be found a use for. For example, in Japan, young bamboo shoots are used as animal feed.
During the field work, specialists selected samples to replenish the Institute's herbarium, collected seeds, cuttings, and seedlings, and compiled an annotated list of species with the indication of collection coordinates and a description of the plant communities in which they were found. Currently, the expedition participants are engaged in the office processing of the obtained data.
Under the agreement on scientific cooperation with the Kuril Nature Reserve, the result of their research will be an inventory of the species diversity of wild relatives of cultivated plants in the territories under the jurisdiction of the reserve and a proposed list of species requiring special attention. In addition, plant samples collected during the group's work on Kunashir and Shikotan will take their place in the Vavilov collection.
The Vavilov Institute's genetic bank is one of the richest in the world in terms of botanical diversity. It contains samples from all continents of the Earth. Part of the collection is stored in seeds in refrigerated chambers, there is an in vitro collection in test tubes, a cryobank, and a herbarium that contains more than 379 thousand sheets.
The herbarium of the world's cultivated plants, their wild relatives, and weeds of the Vavilov Institute has the status of a special collection of world significance and is one of the three largest herbaria of cultivated plants in the world. With proper storage, it can be stored indefinitely.
Blogs
