Conservation and clonal micropropagation of rare species Gladiolus palustris Gaudin

In order to conserve plant biodiversity in vitro methods have been successfully used in recent years. A collection of rare plant species preserved in the form of meristem has been created in Laboratory of Plant Biotechnology of the Main Botanical Garden named after N.V. Tsitsin of Russian Academy of Sciences. Gladiolus palustris Gaudin is a rare European species with limited habitat, gradually shrinking due to anthropogenic impact. This species is listed in the Red Book of Russian Federation as endangered one. For this species, the technology of micropropagation has been developed for the first time, including sterilization of seeds, obtaining seedlings, propagation of microbulbs, their subsequent rooting, adaptation of regenerated plants to ex vitro conditions. During sterilization of seeds the optimal result was achieved by using calcium hypochlorite at a concentration of 7% with the addition of TWEEN 20 Optimal at the stage of micropropagation turned out to be MS medium, supplemented with 10 mg L^‑1 6-BAP and 0.1 mg L^‑1 NAA. The microbulbs were rooted in ¼ MS medium supplemented with 0.3 mg L^‑1 IBA and containing 20 mg L^‑1 sucrose. The developed technology is a basis for obtaining material for reintroduction of rare species and replenishment of collections of botanical gardens.