Biotechnological Tools for Conservation of Plant Genetic Diversity

Plant genetic diversity (PGD) plays a significant role in attaining food, nutrition and economic security. Conservation of these valuable resources is essential in the current scenario of climate change and sixth mass extinction. Since the early twentieth century, conservation of PGD has been carried out by using in situ and ex situ methods. Advances in biotechnology have opened new avenues in the fields of PGD management, with several tools applied in varied activities viz., collecting, quarantine, multiplication, conservation, characterization and evaluation, exchange and utilization. Since the past three decades, significant progress has been made in the use of biotechnology for conserving ‘difficult-to-conserve’ species such as clonally propagated crops, rare and endangered species and crop wild relatives. Several protocols have been developed for in vitro collecting, micropropagation, normal growth, slow growth and cryopreservation in varied species. The present chapter provides the current status of application of various biotechnological tools for the conservation of PGD.