Laboratory of the Introduction of Rare and Endangered Plant Species

Subject: Genetic and adaptive potential of natural and introduced plant populations.

Objects of research: Natural and introduced gene pool of the families Fabaceae and Poaceae.

Main lines of research:
Assessment of the taxonomic structure of the generic complexes on the base of recombinational and introgressive gene pools;
Determination of ecological-biological peculiarities of the species within their ranges, the main ways of adaptive microevolution and interrelation with successful introduction of species;
Study of variation of natural and introduced plants within the generic complexes by morphological, biochemical and genetic characters with the aim of identification, inventory and preservation of rare and disappearing species, unique and economically valuable forms;
Expansion of the gene pool, collections and experimental plots with seed and planting material collected in the wild.

It has been established that 74 % of rare and disapprearing Siberian species are able to grow successfully and give a fertile generation in the Botanical Garden. Resistant self-reproducing populations have been developed by propagation by seeds and vegetative reproduction. The methods of electrophoretic identification of individual biotypes have been developed. It allows to have objective information on intraspecific variation and interspecific introgression. A principle of “recombinational and introgressive gene pools” has been formulated. Forms and cultivars of legumes and grasses, valuable as forage plants, have been developed.



Chief of the Laboratory - Olga V. Doroghina (Agafonova), Prof., senior researcher;
tel.: +7 383 3399783; fax: +7 383 301986; e-mail address: olga-dorogina@yandex.ru