The Project “Guangdong Provincial Tropical and Subtropical Plant Germplasm Resource Bank ” Finished Satisfactorily

On Nov. 30, 2010, the project "Guangdong provincial tropical and subtropical plant germplasm resource bank (2006-2008)", presided by Prof. REN Hai of South China Botanical Garden (SCBG), was checked and accepted by the Science & Technology Department of Guangdong Province. The expert group, whose members were from Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, South China Normal University, South China Agricultural University, Guangdong Academy of Forestry, concluded that the project fully achieved the expected targets and was agreed to pass the acceptance.

The main achievements in this project were summarized as follows. First, the research group conducted a series of study on the ecophysiological characteristics of some rare plants and economic plants, such as Tigridiopalma magnifica, Cycas hainanensis, Mucuna birdwoodiana, Piper hancei, and Euscaphis konishii. It also achieved the reintroduction of Tigridiopalma magnifica and developed a series of fast propagation techniques on Tigridiopalma magnifica, Mucuna birdwoodiana and Bauhinia corymbosa. Second, new cultivars, such as Bauhinia corymbosa, Piper hancei, Euscaphis konishii were bred. Among them, Euscaphis konishii was widely generalized with an annual production of about 10,000 seedlings. Third, the project group constructed an advanced ex-situ conservation base for tropical and subtropical germplasm resources with 2000 newly introduced subtropical rare and characteristic species. Fourth, the germplasm resource bank provided plant seedlings and scientific support for the greening project of the 16th Asian Games held in Guangzhou. The project has built a digital tropical and subtropical germplasm resource database and a SCBG live plant database with more than 13,000 data items. 

The project named "Research and application of indigenous plants in urban green land ecosystems of Pearl River Delta" was awarded with the 2010 National Environmental Protection Science & Technology Awards (third class) and Guangdong Provincial Environmental Protection Science & Technology Awards (second class). The research group applied 10 patents (5 were authorized), published 17 papers including 10 SCI ones and 1 monograph. One report on the conservation and application of germplasm resources was also submitted to the government.