Biotechnology in the Propagation of Forest Trees

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Genetics and Molecular Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 April 2023) | Viewed by 5192

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Plant Molecular Biology, Faculty of Biology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, 82152 Planegg, Germany
Interests: plant molecular biology; NGS; tissue culture
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Guest Editor
Department of Botany & Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Interests: plant biotechnology; in vitro morphogenesis; tissue culture; germplasm conservation; genetic transformation; molecular markers; effect of nanoparticles and bisphenols
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The problems facing the forest tree ecosystems include, but are not limited to, increased demand for wood, the social pressure to conserve forests, and global climate change with its major threats increasing. In vitro regeneration methods are significant biotechnological tools that expedite the multiplication of forest trees, and they are in high demand. Biotechnological methods in particular clonal propagation, somatic embryogenesis, cryopreservation, etc., are quite applicable and are useful techniques for conservation and sustainable utilization of forest trees In addition, recent developments in the sequencing of nucleic acids have paved the way for the improvement of cultivated plant species, including forest trees. Applications of different omics technologies are recently considered an integral part of the genetic enhancement process. The adaptation of different forest tree species to the challenges facing them will require multi-layer work in which genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic studies will play pivotal roles. Utilization of these series of technologies in relation to genetics and molecular and cell biology fostered by bioinformatics to analyze the structure, function, and evolution of sets of genes, up to complete genomes, with the use of high-throughput methods will guide the scientific research in this field. The current Special Issue aimed to provide state-of-the-art information regarding the utilization of different biotechnological and omics technologies to enhance the propagation, growth, and productivity of different forest trees.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Genomic assembly and annotation of forest trees;
  • Transcriptional changes in forest trees in response to global climate change drivers;
  • Post transcriptional modifications resulted from climate changes in forest trees;
  • Micropropagation of economically important forest tree species;
  • Enhancing establishment, growth, and productivity of forest trees.

Dr. Eslam M. Abdel-Salam
Dr. Mohammad Faisal
Guest Editors

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

10 pages, 1559 KiB  
Article
Development of an Efficient and Rapid Micropropagation Protocol for In Vitro Multiplication of Maerua crassifolia Forssk
by Abdulrahman A. Alatar, Ahmed A. Qahtan, Eslam M. Abdel-Salam, Mohammad Faisal and Mohamed A. El-Sheikh
Forests 2023, 14(6), 1160; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14061160 - 5 Jun 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1634
Abstract
The difficult propagation of shrub and tree species and their extensive exposure to grazing threaten their abundance and lead to the necessity to find alternative means of propagation for these species. In vitro micropropagation techniques, viz., tissue culture, offer a promising tool for [...] Read more.
The difficult propagation of shrub and tree species and their extensive exposure to grazing threaten their abundance and lead to the necessity to find alternative means of propagation for these species. In vitro micropropagation techniques, viz., tissue culture, offer a promising tool for the rapid, cost-effective, and efficient propagation of different plant species. In the current study, a rapid and efficient in vitro multiplication protocol was developed for the micropropagation of Maerua crassifolia Forssk. Our results revealed that Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium with 7.5 µM of 6-benzylaminopurine (BA) and 1.0 µM of 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) led to the highest shoot formation (13.9 shoots per explant in 85.7% of the cultivated hypocotyls) among all other treatments. The best in vitro root formation was obtained on half-strength MS medium with 1.0 µM of indole 3-butyric acid (IBA) as 94.1% of the cultivated shoots formed 6.8 roots per microshoot on average. Ninety percent of the rooted plantlets were successfully acclimatized and are currently growing in the botanical garden of the Botany and Microbiology Department, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The genetic fidelity of the micropropagated plants was authenticated via flow cytometry. The results of the current study explained a simple, cost-effective, and efficient protocol for the micropropagation of the endangered M. crassifolia trees. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biotechnology in the Propagation of Forest Trees)
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16 pages, 3638 KiB  
Article
Cryopreservation and Cryotolerance Mechanism in Zygotic Embryo and Embryogenic Callus of Oil Palm
by Qiuen Wei, Peng Shi, Faiza Shafique Khan, Yin Min Htwe, Dapeng Zhang, Zhiying Li, Xueke Wei, Qun Yu, Kaibing Zhou and Yong Wang
Forests 2023, 14(5), 966; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14050966 - 7 May 2023
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2798
Abstract
Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) is the highest oil-yielding commercially grown perennial tree. Oil palm germplasm conservation and in vitro clonal propagation strengthened the world’s efforts to ensure future food security. Cryopreservation provides long-term storage for germplasm. The storage of plant material [...] Read more.
Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) is the highest oil-yielding commercially grown perennial tree. Oil palm germplasm conservation and in vitro clonal propagation strengthened the world’s efforts to ensure future food security. Cryopreservation provides long-term storage for germplasm. The storage of plant material at cryogenic temperatures (−196 °C) following dehydration causes cryoinjury. The cryotolerance mechanism has rarely been studied in oil palm zygotic embryos (ZE) and embryogenic calli (EC). A simple and effective cryopreservation method was established for ZE. ZE surrounded by endosperm was air-dried for 3 days without any complicated chemical pre-treatments before cryopreservation, while the viability rate and following germination rate could reach up to 96.67% and 90.88%, respectively. As for EC, the preferred method could be pre-culture in liquid MS medium with 0.3 M sucrose for 12 h and PVS2 treatment for 5 min prior to cryopreservation, and the viability rate reached 68.33%. SSR markers were used to verify the genetic stability after cryopreservation. In addition, changes in enzyme activities (CAT, POD, and SOD) showed a consistent trend with H2O2 production among ZE samples, indicating that these antioxidants were involved in ROS scavenging. Furthermore, differently expressed genes (DEGs) related to ROS, osmotic, and cold stress responses were selected for correlation network analysis. Most genes involved in ROS production (RBOH, PAO, and PRX) and ROS scavenging (APX, PER, SOD, CAT, GPX, and AOX) showed higher expression levels in EC, suggesting that EC was more sensitive to oxidative stress than ZE. The cryotolerance mechanism was further summarized accordingly. These results contributed to cryopreservation methods and provided a better understanding of cryotolerance in oil palm. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biotechnology in the Propagation of Forest Trees)
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