Acta Univ Latv (2004) 676: 243–246

Preservation of the rare terrestrial orchids in vitro

Abstract

The aim of this study was to establish viable tissue culture of Estonian terrestrial orchids for in vitro conservation and for final reindroduction of propagated plants to their areas. In total 28 meristems of Dactylorhiza baltica (Klinge) Orlova were excised from protocorm-like bodies and planted to modified Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with 0.5 mg l-1 naphthaleneacetic acid and 2.0 mg l-1 N6-Δ2-isopentenyl adenine. After four weeks of culture, 60 % of excised apical meristems of D. baltica had started to grow while none of the explants originating from the lateral meristems expressed any tissue development. Semi-ripened seeds of D. ruthei (M. Schulze ex Ruthe) Soo and D. praetermissa (Druce) Soo. were sown to modified Heller, Lindemann, Norstog or Murashige and Skoog (control) medium. The current studies showed that high concentrations of microelements are necessary for germination of orchid seeds. Depending on species, germination of orchid seeds started two months after initiation. Preliminary results have been obtained regarding in vitro culture of D. baltica, D. ruthei and D. praetermissa.