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In Vitro Conservation of Bottle Palm (Hyophorbe lagenicaulis (L. Bailey) H.E. Moore)

Mature in vitro seedlings of Hyophorbe lagenicaulis (Arecaceae) raised from cultured somatic embryos

The ‘bottle palm’, Hyophorbe lagenicaulis (L. Bailey) H.E. Moore, is endemic to Mauritius, where it is confined to lowland palm savannah on Round Island. By the 1970s, the species faced extinction in the wild. Currently, there are more than 250 palm trees that make up the wild population in nature. However, germination of seeds in the wild takes 5-6 months and is sporadic. For this reason, in vitro germination of seeds and the induction of somatic embryos were investigated and published in Plant Cell Reports. Furthermore, Hyophorbe amaricaulis, a species closely related to bottle palm and one of the world's rarest palms, is endemic to Mauritius. Its seeds are non-viable under in vivo and in vitro conditions according to the studies conducted elsewhere. Successful protocol development in bottle palm may help to rescue H. amaricaulis which is represented by a single specimen.

The project aims include development of viable seedlings in culture and their transplantation to glass house conditions. Seedlings were used to develop somatic embryos which are similar to zygotic embryos in morphology and function. Plants can be raised from somatic embryos in large numbers. This method will have applications for other rare palms which produce limited number of seeds. The added benefit of somatic embryos as propagules for long-term storage (cryopreservation) makes it useful for other rare palms in danger of extinction. This is because palm seeds are not, generally, amenable to storage at low temperature due to their high moisture content and short viability period. Protocols developed in bottle palm will be of great significance to the rescue of H. amaricaulis, one of the rarest palms.

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