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ABSTRACT
The “resurrection plant” Ramonda serbica is included in the Albanian and Bulgarian list of endangered plants as a rare, Balkanic-endemic species and tertiary relic species, while R. nathaliae is characteristic in the FYROM area. Our research groups have established national in vitro collections of R. serbica in Albania and Bulgaria and R. nathaliae in Macedonia. The aim of this joint study is (1) the choice of successful micropropagation methods as the basis for the in vitro collections and (2) the evaluation of polymorphism of some natural populations. In both collections, seeds were used as a convenient starting point for micropropagation in the nutrient medium JG-B. In the Bulgarian in vitro collection, a dry sterilization of seeds was applied for a first time for Gesneriaceae family. The micropropagation and conservation of Ramonda seeds and plantlets were similar in Albanian and Bulgarian collections. The plantlets in vitro as an explant material were developed in JG-B medium with different phytohormones. The direct organogenesis of two Ramonda species is very similar models. The method of conservation in vitro with minimal growth method (modification of nutrient medium) was used. Meiosis and mitosis examinations of the natural populations and plantlets cultivated in vitro were carried out by standard Squash method. Cytogenetical study of natural populations showed polyploid forms as a mixture (2n=72) and (2n=96). Mitosis preparations in plantlets in vitro showed a predominance of the most frequent form (2n=96). The biodiversity in interspecific level of the natural populations of Ramonda serbica of Central Albania, R. nathaliae from Macedonia and cultivated plantlets in vitro from Albania and Bulgaria was evaluated via molecular markers (RAPDs). The micropropagation method is a convenient way for the international exchange of germplasm of rare and endemic plants. From the data obtained in this study it can be concluded that RAPD markers provided a useful technique to study genetic diversity in Ramonda serbica and R. nathaliae populations. This technology allows the identification of different populations as well as the assessment of the genetic similarity among different populations.
