In vitro Propagation of Vanda testacea (Lindl.) Reichb. F, a Medicinally Important Threatened Orchid

The present study was planned to enable in vitro conservation of Vanda testacea, a highly medicinal orchid species through in vitro asymbiotic seed germination technique in Mitra orchid medium supplemented with cytokinins (Kn - 4.65 μM, BAP - 4.44 μM), and auxin (NAA- 5.37 μM). The germination frequency and initiation of germination was higher in NAA augmented medium and seedlings developed in 12.50 ± 0.50 weeks. Coconut water (20%) proved optimum for the multiplication of protocorm like bodies. Activated charcoal successfully checked the release of brownish exudates in the cultures. Plant Tissue Cult. & Biotech. 31(2): 153-160, 2021 (December)

Aklimatisasi Anggrek Species Hasil Kultur Jaringan Melalui Pemberdayaan Masyarakat Dusun Gempol

Gempol Village is a village on Mount Ungaran that has made efforts to preserve orchid species. Through mentoring and training from the UNNES Research Team which began in 2011, as well as greenhouse facilitation from PT Indonesia Power, the Gempol village community who are members of the Omah Sawah Community began to make efforts to conserve orchid species. The results of the identification of the problems experienced by community groups as foster partners can be grouped into three aspects, namely knowledge and skills of acclimatization of orchids from plant tissue culture, post-acclimatization management/care, and supporting infrastructure for acclimatization of tissue cultured orchids, where these three aspects are interrelated. The methods used include lecture and question and answer activities, practice, and mentoring. The result achieved is that the orchid species acclimatization activity in Gempol Hamlet, Ngesrepbalong Village has been carried out with satisfactory results. Activities are carried out through training and assistance to community groups who are members of Omah Sawah. The results of the evaluation of the participants showed that the participants' understanding and skills improved after this activity was carried out, even providing ideas for participants to apply to cultivated orchids. The result is enough to generate economic income for the participants, because some of their cultivated orchids are sold. Abstrak Dusun Gempol adalah satu dusun di Gunung Ungaran yang telah melakukan upaya pelestarian anggrek species hutan . Melalui pendampingan dan pelatihan dari Tim Peneliti UNNES yang dimulai pada tahun 201, serta fasilitasi greenhouse dari PT Indonesia Power, masyarakat Dusun Gempol yang tergabung dalam Komunitas Omah Sawah mulai melakukan upaya pelestarian anggrek species. Hasil identifikasi terhadap permasalahan yang dialami kelompok masyarakat sebagai mitra binaan dapat dikelompokkan menjadi tiga aspek, yaitu pengetahuan dan keterampilan aklimatisasi anggrek hasil kultur jaringan tanaman, pengelolaan/ perawatan pasca aklimatisasi, dan sarana prasarana penunjang aklimatisasi anggrek hasil kutur jaringan, dimana ke tiga aspek ini salingterkait. Metode yang dilakukan, meliputi kegiatan ceramah dan tanya jawab, praktik, dan pendampingan. Hasil yang dicapai adalah kegiatan aklimatisasi anggrek species di Dusun Gempol Desa Ngesrepbalong telah dilaksanakan dengan hasil yang memuaskan. Kegiatan dilaksanakan melalui pelatihan dan pendampingan terhadap kelompok masyarakat yang tergabung di Omah Sawah. Hasil evaluasi terhadap peserta menunjukkan bahwa pemahaman dan ketrampilan peserta meningkat setelah dilakukan kegiatan ini, bahkan memberikan ide bagi peserta untuk menerapkan pada anggrek budidaya. Hasilnya cukup membuahkan pemasukan ekonomi bagi peserta, karena beberapa anggrek budidaya mereka laku dijual.

Bulbophyllum versicolor (Orchidaceae, Malaxideae), a new species from Yunnan, China: evidence from morphology and molecular analyses

A new orchid species, Bulbophyllum versicolor (Malaxideae, Epidendroideae, Orchidaceae), from Malipo, Yunnan, China, is described and illustrated here. Detailed morphological study indicates that B. versicolor is similar to B. japonicum, but it differs in the shape and size of leaf and flower and flower colour. Molecular analyses based on the nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrITS) and plastid DNA (matK, atpI-atpH and trnL-F) reveal that B. versicolor is a new species and genetically similar to B. japonicum.

Orchid Identification and Collection Techniques in the Kembang Kuning Resort Area, Rinjani Mount National Park (RMNP)

The Rinjani Mount National Park (RMNP) area is one part of the tropical rain forest in the West Nusa Tenggara region. Orchid is one of the flora that has a high bioprospective in this area. The spread of natural orchids can continue to grow and there are still many that have not been identified. This study aims to train specific techniques in collecting and identifying natural orchids at The Resort of Kembang Kuning, Rinjani Mount National Park. The collection of orchids was carried out using the roaming method, while the identification of orchid species was carried out using a species determination technique through observation of morphological and anatomical descriptions. The out comes of this study are an increase in participants' appreciation, knowledge and skills in collecting and identifying species of natural orchids in the Kembang Kuning area of Rinjani ​​Mount National Park. Based on the observations obtained 9 species (7 species were identified to the species level and 2 species were identified to the genus level) from 6 genera of natural orchids in area of The Kembang Kuning Resort, The Rinjani Mount National Park (RMNP).

Orchids as Valuable Folklore Medicine: A Review

The impetus of writing this paper is to review various medicinal orchid species growing in different parts of India. The family orchidaceae is one of the diverse groups among angiosperms which includes different types of orchid species. This paper is written to review the medicinal and therapeutic importance and use of different orchid species for treatment of various types of diseases. Orchids are herbaceous plants which are mentioned in ancient ayurvedic system of medicine because of their therapeutic properties. Most of the medicinal orchid species are epiphytic and terrestrial in habitat.

Geographical Distribution and Relationship with Environmental Factors of Paphiopedilum Subgenus Brachypetalum Hallier (Orchidaceae) Taxa in Southwest China

The determination of the geographic distributions of orchid species and their relationships with environmental factors are considered fundamental to their conservation. Paphiopedilum subgenus Brachypetalum is one of the most primitive, ornamental, and threatened groups of Orchidaceae. However, little is known about the distribution of Brachypetalum orchids and how they are influenced by environmental factors. In this study, we developed a database on the geographical distribution of Brachypetalum orchids based on a large-scale field investigation in the Guangxi, Guizhou, and Yunnan provinces of southwest China (2019–2020). Using this database, we first adopted the nonparametric Mann–Whitney U test to analyze the differences in the geographical distributions and growth environments of Brachypetalum orchids. In addition, we also used the method of principal component analysis (PCA) to explore distribution patterns of Brachypetalum orchids in relation to environmental factors (topography, climate, anthropogenic disturbance, productivity, and soil) in southwest China. Our results indicated that Brachypetalum orchid species were mainly distributed in the karst limestone habitats of southwest China. In general, there were 194 existing localities with the occurrence of seven target orchids in the investigated area. Of the discovered species in our study, 176 locations (~90.7%) were distributed primarily in the karst habitat. Among them, the range of 780–1267 m was the most concentrated elevation of Brachypetalum orchids. In addition, the findings also suggested that the distribution of Brachypetalum orchids in southwest China was relatively scattered in geographical space. However, the density of the distribution of Brachypetalum orchids was high, between 104° and 108° E and between 25° and 26° N. The results of the Mann–Whitney U test revealed that there are obviously different geographical distributions and growth environments of Brachypetalum in southwest China. More specifically, we found some extremely significant differences (p < 0.001) in elevation, mean diurnal range, precipitation of coldest quarter, solar radiation, and exchangeable Ca2+ between the provinces of southwest China. The PCA analysis revealed that elevation, solar radiation, temperature (mean diurnal range, annual temperature range) and precipitation (precipitation seasonality, precipitation of the warmest quarter) were found to be the most significant factors in determining Brachypetalum orchids’ distribution. These findings have implications in assessing conservation effectiveness and determining niche breadth to better protect the populations of these Brachypetalum orchid species in the future.

Role of Organic Growth Supplement In vitro Multiplication of Orchid Species- A Review

The main purpose of this article is to review role of several organic growth additives such Apple juice, coconut water (CW), maize extract, banana homogenate (BH), peptone and protocorms etc which stimulate the multiplication rate of various orchid species in in vitro multiplication. These organic growth supplements help to increase the number of shoots, root and leaf in culture medium. In many orchid tissue culture, organic growth supplements, which are the most essential medium aspect to stimulate tissue growth, production and facilitate the regeneration of shoot. The banana homogenate (BH) had the highest rate of regeneration and root developments. The use of organic growth supplements resulted in increased regeneration, the creation of more shoots and the development of fresh plantlets. Amino acids, proteins, vitamins, carbohydrates and various types of organic compounds are present in these growth supplements. These components have the potential to play a significant role in the development and creation of culture. Now more research is needed to figure out which factors are responsible for the organic additives’ promoter effect.

DNA barcoding of medicinal orchids in Asia

Growing popularity of herbal medicine has increased the demand of medicinal orchids in the global markets leading to their overharvesting from natural habitats for illegal trade. To stop such illegal trade, the correct identification of orchid species from their traded products is a foremost requirement. Different species of medicinal orchids are traded as their dried or fresh parts (tubers, pseudobulbs, stems), which look similar to each other making it almost impossible to identify them merely based on morphological observation. To overcome this problem, DNA barcoding could be an important method for accurate identification of medicinal orchids. Therefore, this research evaluated DNA barcoding of medicinal orchids in Asia where illegal trade of medicinal orchids has long existed. Based on genetic distance, similarity-based and tree-based methods with sampling nearly 7,000 sequences from five single barcodes (ITS, ITS2, matK, rbcL, trnH-psbA and their seven combinations), this study revealed that DNA barcoding is effective for identifying medicinal orchids. Among single locus, ITS performed the best barcode, whereas ITS + matK exhibited the most efficient barcode among multi-loci. A barcode library as a resource for identifying medicinal orchids has been established which contains about 7,000 sequences of 380 species (i.e. 90%) of medicinal orchids in Asia.