News and Stories

In the CREW Plant Lab, our research focuses on developing long term preservation protocols for exceptional species, or ones that cannot be conventionally seed banked. A plant could be considered exceptional for many reasons. Some seeds just don’t have the anatomy to survive the drying methods used in conventional seed banking, some are so endangered that there are just not enough plants for cross-pollination to create viable seed. Our lab helps save these species by initiating plant material into tissue culture and harvesting the shoot tips to freeze in liquid nitrogen!

At CREW, we work to conserve a wide array of native & endangered plant species. However, North American tree conservation is a big focus for our lab right now because of how many trees are considered exceptional. ALL oak species are unable to be conventionally seed banked, so our work is crucial in finding a way to preserve them long term. We were recently awarded funding to develop long-term conservation protocols for two threatened oak species (Quercus georgiana and Q. hinckleyi) and two species of Florida-endemic endangered pawpaws (Deeringothamnus pulchellus and D. rugelii). Establishing a successful storage protocol not only benefits these four species, it further develops conservation of exceptional species as a whole.

Freezing plants in liquid nitrogen is not the last step in the journey of saving a species from extinction. Cryopreserved plant material can be thawed, grown in vitro on media that promotes root growth, acclimatized in order to live outside of a test tube, and planted back into its native habitat. Our work allows us to store plants long term and produce plants for in situ conservation efforts. We were recently awarded a grant from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums & US Fish & Wildlife Service that will allow us to do a full experimental cycle of tissue culture, cryopreservation, recovery & acclimatization, and finally outplanting to the native habitat for D. pulchellus and D. rugelii. This project will exemplify the process of ex situ conservation and will be used as a guide for conserving other exceptional species!