{"id":216438,"date":"2023-08-29T15:53:38","date_gmt":"2023-08-29T21:53:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cincinnatizoo.wpengine.com\/?page_id=216438"},"modified":"2024-09-16T08:49:13","modified_gmt":"2024-09-16T14:49:13","slug":"exceptional-plant-signature-project","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/cincinnatizoo.org\/conservation\/crew\/exceptional-plant-signature-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Exceptional Plant Signature Project"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_row][vc_column][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h3>Conserving Threatened Plants<\/h3>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CREW scientists in the Plant Research Division work to conserve threatened plant species that cannot be conserved through conventional seed banking methods\u2014known as <em>exceptional plants.<\/em>\u00a0 To do this, we focus on developing protocols for banking threatened exceptional plants using plant tissue culture (in vitro technologies) and cryopreservation.\u00a0 Our goals are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>To develop protocols for growing threatened species in tissue culture and for cryopreserving them, so that genetically diverse collections of these threatened plants can be banked in CREW\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/cincinnatizoo.org\/conservation\/crew\/cryobiobank\/\">CryoBioBank<\/a>, as insurance against future extinction.<\/li>\n<li>To use tissue culture methods to propagate threatened plants to support their restoration in the wild<\/li>\n<li>To facilitate conservation of exceptional plants through the training of students, interns, and young scientists, and globally through the <a title=\"Exceptional Plant Conservation Network\" href=\"https:\/\/cincinnatizoo.org\/exceptional-plant-conservation-network\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\">Exceptional Plant Conservation Network<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;]<section class=\"image-carousel carousel-slider swipe aos col-span-12\">\n        <ul class=\"image-carousel__slides carousel-slides\" data-si=\"0\" data-pointer data-pointer-state=\"swipe\"><li class=\"image-carousel__slides-item carousel-slide\">\n        <figure class=\"image-carousel__slides-item__image lazyload\" style=\"background-image:inherit;\" data-bg-image=\"url(&#039;https:\/\/cincinnatizoo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/DSC_8779-scaled.jpg&#039;)\">\n          <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"screen-reader-text lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cincinnatizoo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/DSC_8779-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Frozen Garden Cryopreservation containers\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 2560px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 2560\/1707;\" \/>\n        <\/figure><div class=\"image-caption\">Samples of threatened plants can be banked in CREW\u2019s Frozen Garden as insurance against future extinction.<\/div><\/li><li class=\"image-carousel__slides-item carousel-slide\">\n        <figure class=\"image-carousel__slides-item__image lazyload\" style=\"background-image:inherit;\" data-bg-image=\"url(&#039;https:\/\/cincinnatizoo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/G0037668a-Copy-scaled.jpg&#039;)\">\n          <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"screen-reader-text lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cincinnatizoo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/G0037668a-Copy-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 2560px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 2560\/1883;\" \/>\n        <\/figure><div class=\"image-caption\">Restoring Plants in the Wild<\/div><\/li><li class=\"image-carousel__slides-item carousel-slide\">\n        <figure class=\"image-carousel__slides-item__image lazyload\" style=\"background-image:inherit;\" data-bg-image=\"url(&#039;https:\/\/cincinnatizoo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Cycjon-in-flower-1-Pam.jpg&#039;)\">\n          <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"screen-reader-text lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cincinnatizoo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Cycjon-in-flower-1-Pam.jpg\" alt=\"Exceptional Plant Conservation Network\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1440px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1440\/1080;\" \/>\n        <\/figure><div class=\"image-caption\">Exceptional Plant Conservation Network<\/div><\/li><\/ul><nav class=\"image-carousel__navs carousel-controls\"><span class=\"prev-slide\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"previous\" title=\"previous\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"\/wp-content\/themes\/source\/assets\/icons\/ui\/arrow-styled-left.svg\" alt=\"image pointing left\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\"><\/span><div class=\"image-carousel__navs-scroller\"><ul class=\"image-carousel__indices carousel-indices\"><li class=\"image-carousel__indices-item carousel-index active lazyload\" style=\"background-image:inherit;\" data-bg-image=\"url(&#039;https:\/\/cincinnatizoo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/DSC_8779-scaled.jpg&#039;)\"><\/li><li class=\"image-carousel__indices-item carousel-index lazyload\" style=\"background-image:inherit;\" data-bg-image=\"url(&#039;https:\/\/cincinnatizoo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/G0037668a-Copy-scaled.jpg&#039;)\"><\/li><li class=\"image-carousel__indices-item carousel-index lazyload\" style=\"background-image:inherit;\" data-bg-image=\"url(&#039;https:\/\/cincinnatizoo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Cycjon-in-flower-1-Pam.jpg&#039;)\"><\/li><\/ul><\/div><span class=\"next-slide\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"next\" title=\"next\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"\/wp-content\/themes\/source\/assets\/icons\/ui\/arrow-styled-right.svg\" alt=\"image pointing left\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\"><\/span><\/nav><\/section><div class=\"spacer\" style=\"padding-bottom:20px;\"><\/div>[vc_column_text]<a href=\"https:\/\/cincinnatizoo.org\/category\/plant-research\/\">Read recent exceptional plant research news and stories.<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<a class=\"button\" title=\"Explore the Exceptional Plant Conservation Network\" href=\"https:\/\/cincinnatizoo.org\/exceptional-plant-conservation-network\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\">Explore the Exceptional Plant Conservation Network<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row el_class=&#8221;hide&#8221; el_id=&#8221;seed banking&#8221;][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<p class=\"odd\">When seeds are banked, they first must be dried to a very low moisture level (something most seeds are adapted to doing in nature), and then the dried seeds are put into a freezer and kept at -20<sup class=\"even\">o<\/sup>C (-4<sup class=\"odd\">o<\/sup>F), where they will last for many years.\u00a0 An example of large seed banks of wild plant species is the\u00a0<a class=\"even\" title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kew.org\/science\/collections\/seed-collection\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #993300;\">Millennium Seed Bank Partnership<\/span><\/a>\u00a0in England, the\u00a0European Native Seed Conservation Network (ENSCONET), the collaboration of the\u00a0<a class=\"even\" title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/saveplants.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #993300;\">Center for Plant Conservation<\/span><\/a>\u00a0in the United States with the National Laboratory for Genetic Resource Preservation (USDA), the<span style=\"color: #993300;\">\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"odd\" title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.seedpartnership.org.au\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #993300;\">National Seed Bank Partnership<\/span><\/a>\u00a0in Australia, and the\u00a0<span style=\"color: #993300;\">Germplasm Bank of Wild Species<\/span>\u00a0in China.<\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner]<details class=\"simple-expander\" data-aos=\"fade-up\">\n        <summary>Threatened Exceptional Plants<\/summary><div>The CREW Plant Division focuses on Threatened Exceptional Plants (TEPs) or those threatened plant species for which seed banking is not an option for long-term ex-situ conservation. Ex-situ conservation is the conservation of plants away from their native habitats. It includes growing plants in places like botanical gardens as living collections or conserving the species as seeds in a seed bank. Seed banking is a very effective and efficient method for preserving plant genetic diversity for long periods of time in a small space. However, not all species are adapted to the methods required for current conventional seed banking.<\/div><\/details><details class=\"simple-expander\" data-aos=\"fade-up\">\n        <summary>Exceptional Species<\/summary><div>Exceptional species, however, are plants that will not survive the conditions of seed banking, are short-lived in seed banks, or they have no seeds available to the bank.\u00a0 Fortunately, there are other methods that can be used to preserve exceptional species, including\u00a0<em class=\"even\">cryobiotechnology<\/em><em class=\"odd\">,\u00a0<\/em>which combines the methods of cryopreservation with\u00a0<em class=\"even\">in vitro<\/em> biotechnologies.\u00a0 These methods are used in the CREW Plant Division to propagate TEPs and store them long-term at -196<sup class=\"odd\">o<\/sup>C (-321<sup class=\"even\">o<\/sup>F) in liquid nitrogen in <a href=\"https:\/\/cincinnatizoo.org\/conservation\/crew\/cryobiobank\/\"><span style=\"color: #993300;\">CREW\u2019s\u00a0CryoBioBank<\/span>.<\/a><\/div><\/details>[\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner]<div class=\"spacer\" style=\"padding-bottom:60px;\"><\/div>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row el_id=&#8221;plant lab species&#8221; el_class=&#8221;hide&#8221;][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<div class=\"section-title first-child odd\">\n<h4>Crew Plant Lab<\/h4>\n<p class=\"container first-child last-child odd\"><strong>To learn more about some of the species the CREW Plant Lab is working<\/strong>, expand one of links below.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row el_id=&#8221;species&#8221; el_class=&#8221;hide&#8221;][vc_column]<div class=\"accordions themed accordion-list\" role=\"tablist\"><div class=\"accordions__tab\" role=\"tab\" data-aos=\"fade-up\">\n        <span class=\"accordions__tab-toggle tab-toggle\" role=\"button\" title=\"toggle tab\" aria-label=\"toggle tab\"><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-down\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>\n        <\/span>\n        <div class=\"accordions__tab-content tab-body\" role=\"tabpanel\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"even\">The Plant Division at CREW has been involved in the restoration of the endangered Autumn buttercup (<em class=\"first-child last-child odd\">Ranunculus aestivalis<\/em>) which, when it was discovered, had very few plants to produce seed.\u00a0 Read more about its amazing come-back below and view the video of the last outplanting here.\u00a0 View short video interviews of the restoration team members here.<\/p>\n<p class=\"odd\"><iframe class=\"first-child last-child odd lazyload\" title=\"youtube\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EoI4IF6C5gw\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-uw-rm-iframe=\"gn\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" data-load-mode=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"even\"><em class=\"first-child last-child odd\">The come-back of the Autumn buttercup is a story of teamwork, science, and perseverance!<\/em><\/p>\n<h4 class=\"odd\"><a class=\"image-link first-child last-child odd\" href=\"https:\/\/cincinnatizoo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG_6859.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-203938\" data-fancybox=\"gallery\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"first-child last-child odd alignleft wp-image-203938 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cincinnatizoo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/IMG_6859-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a person digging in the ground\" width=\"360\" height=\"270\" data-uw-rm-alt-original=\"\" data-uw-rm-alt=\"true\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 360px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 360\/270;\" \/><\/a><\/h4>\n<p class=\"even\">The yellow-flowered Autumn buttercup was first discovered in one location in the Sevier River Valley in south central Utah in 1894 and was only seen once in the 1940s before being found again in 1984.\u00a0 It was listed as federally endangered in 1989 and soon after, The Nature Conservancy purchased the site to help preserve the species, fencing the land to eliminate grazing.\u00a0 However, the population continued to decline to about 20 plants.<\/p>\n<p class=\"odd\">In the mid-1990s, CREW\u2019s Plant Division was given a few seeds, and these were germinated\u00a0<em class=\"first-child last-child odd\">in vitro\u00a0<\/em>(in plant tissue culture), and the shoots were used to establish tissue culture lines for propagating Autumn buttercup plants.\u00a0 Once propagation protocols were developed, CREW was asked to be part of a team of institutions that was working to restore the Autumn buttercup population.\u00a0 The team consisted of The Nature Conservancy, U.S. Fish &amp; Wildlife Service, The Arboretum at Flagstaff, CREW, and, first, Utah State University and later Weber State University.<\/p>\n<p class=\"even\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-203941 first-child last-child odd alignright lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cincinnatizoo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/autumn-buttercup.png\" alt=\"packaged goods\" width=\"295\" height=\"300\" data-uw-rm-alt-original=\"\" data-uw-rm-alt=\"true\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 295px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 295\/300;\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"odd\">The first outplanting of 136 CREW-propagated plants took place in 2007.\u00a0 The cause for the decline was unknown, but one theory was that the site, which is a wet meadow, was becoming drier and so buttercups were planted in wetter and drier areas.\u00a0 Surprisingly, the plants in the wet area died within a year, while the plants in the drier area survived longer, although they eventually began to decline as well.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"even\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"first-child last-child odd alignleft wp-image-203939 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cincinnatizoo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/autumnbuttercupseedlings004.jpg\" alt=\"a field of grass and bushes\" width=\"360\" height=\"270\" data-uw-rm-alt-original=\"\" data-uw-rm-alt=\"true\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 360px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 360\/270;\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"odd\">In 2010, a second outplanting of 45 plants was done, but when the plants were checked after a few weeks, they had all been eaten by hungry voles!\u00a0 An evaluation of the site indicated that because grazing had been eliminated, the site had become overgrown by sedges and rushes, which provided perfect habitat for voles, and the small mammal population had increased substantially.<\/p>\n<p class=\"even\">In 2013, it was decided to allow limited grazing on a portion of the site to reduce the vegetative cover that had altered the ecology of the area. Close to 350 plants from CREW were planted, some in the grazed area and some on ungrazed land.\u00a0 In addition, each plant was protected by a metal mesh bag around the roots to protect it from voles, and some had cages to protect the shoots of the plant from cattle grazing until the plants could become established.\u00a0 This time was a success!\u00a0 More plants survived on the grazed site than the ungrazed site, and more of the caged plants survived than uncaged.<\/p>\n<p class=\"odd\">The last outplanting took place in 2017 when 900 plants were planted!\u00a0 600 of these were produced through tissue culture by CREW and 300 were produced directly from collected seed, and the survival of these will continue to be followed.\u00a0 Even as these plants were being planted, Autumn buttercups from the previous outplantings were blooming in the meadow!\u00a0 The site is well on its way to the goal of a 1000 healthy, reproducing plants!<\/p>\n<p class=\"even\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"first-child last-child odd alignright wp-image-203940 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cincinnatizoo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/New-Picture-2.png\" alt=\"a group of green plants\" width=\"278\" height=\"360\" data-uw-rm-alt-original=\"\" data-uw-rm-alt=\"true\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 278px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 278\/360;\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"odd\">The research on developing the propagation protocol for the Autumn buttercup was funded in part by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, in collaboration with The Arboretum at Flagstaff, and the Center for Plant Conservation.<\/p>\n<p>\n<\/div>\n      <\/div><div class=\"accordions__tab\" role=\"tab\" data-aos=\"fade-up\">\n        <span class=\"accordions__tab-toggle tab-toggle\" role=\"button\" title=\"toggle tab\" aria-label=\"toggle tab\"><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-down\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>\n        <\/span>\n        <div class=\"accordions__tab-content tab-body\" role=\"tabpanel\"><\/p>\n<p><figure id=\"attachment_161646\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-161646\" style=\"width: 360px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-161646 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cincinnatizoo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/CaCrop2-copy-300x295.jpg\" alt=\"Avon Park harebells, flowering in Florida\" width=\"360\" height=\"354\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 360px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 360\/354;\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-161646\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Avon Park harebells, flowering in Florida<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n<p class=\"first-child odd\">Avon Park harebells is a small legume (Fabaceae family) that is known from only three populations in south-central Florida.\u00a0 It is specifically adapted to the sandy scrub habitat of the Lake Wales Ridge, an area that is home to a variety of unique plants and animals.\u00a0 Because this land is desirable for development and agriculture, much of the original habitat has been lost. Of the three known populations of the Avon Park harebells, two are protected and one is not.<\/p>\n<p class=\"even\">The unprotected population is in the city of Avon Park, in undeveloped housing lots.\u00a0 CREW has collaborated with researchers at Archbold Biological Station (ABS), located near Lake Placid, FL, who has studied and monitored this species for a number of years.\u00a0 CREW\u2019s Plant Division has developed in vitro (tissue culture) propagation methods for this species and has used those methods to propagate plants from the unprotected population.\u00a0 Young partially acclimatized plants were sent to collaborators at Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, FL, for further acclimatization to the Florida climate.<\/p>\n<p><figure id=\"attachment_217693\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-217693\" style=\"width: 360px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-217693 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cincinnatizoo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Crotsite1-300x201.jpg\" alt=\"Avon Park harebells habitat in Florida \" width=\"360\" height=\"242\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 360px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 360\/242;\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-217693\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Avon Park harebells habitat in Florida<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n<p class=\"odd\">In August 2012, 84 plants propagated by CREW and Bok Tower Gardens were planted by ABS researchers at a protected site.\u00a0\u00a0 All of the plants died back, but as of March 2013, a number of the plants were starting to regrow.<\/p>\n<p class=\"even\">This is encouraging, indicating that the methods used for propagation, including in vitro methods, produced plants that are adapting to the new location, and that these methods could be used to produce further plants for restoration.\u00a0 CREW researchers are also working to cryopreserve tissues of this species, for long-term storage in CREW\u2019s CryoBioBank.<\/p>\n<p class=\"odd\">This collaboration in restoration, between the CREW Plant Division, Bok Tower Gardens, and Archbold Biological Station, with funding from the U.S. Fish &amp; Wildlife Service, is helping to bring the unprotected genotypes of the Avon Park harebells into a secure future.<\/p>\n<p class=\"even\"><em class=\"first-child last-child odd\">The original work in developing in vitro propagation and cryopreservation protocols for this species was supported in part by grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\n<\/div>\n      <\/div><div class=\"accordions__tab\" role=\"tab\" data-aos=\"fade-up\">\n        <span class=\"accordions__tab-toggle tab-toggle\" role=\"button\" title=\"toggle tab\" aria-label=\"toggle tab\"><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-down\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>\n        <\/span>\n        <div class=\"accordions__tab-content tab-body\" role=\"tabpanel\"><\/p>\n<p>Roughly one-quarter of all the species targeted in the Threatened Plant Propagation Program are from Florida.\u00a0 Collaborators at Historic Bok Sanctuary, Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden, and the Marie Selby Botanical Garden work with CREW to identify species for which propagation at CREW could make a difference in the long-range conservation of the species.\u00a0 Targeted species focus on threatened species from scrub and pine rockland\/hardwood hammock habitats and include a variety of woody species,\u00a0 perennials, orchids, and ferns.<\/p>\n<p>\n<\/div>\n      <\/div><div class=\"accordions__tab\" role=\"tab\" data-aos=\"fade-up\">\n        <span class=\"accordions__tab-toggle tab-toggle\" role=\"button\" title=\"toggle tab\" aria-label=\"toggle tab\"><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-down\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>\n        <\/span>\n        <div class=\"accordions__tab-content tab-body\" role=\"tabpanel\"><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"image-link\" href=\"https:\/\/cincinnatizoo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/cumberland-sandwort.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-169250 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cincinnatizoo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/cumberland-sandwort.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"221\" height=\"400\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 221px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 221\/400;\" \/><\/a>Cumberland Sandwort plants have been propagated using tissue culture, and these methods have been used to produce plants that have been outplanted in the Daniel Boone National Forest.\u00a0 This experimental population has demonstrated that Cumberland Sandwort plants produced through tissue culture can be used to produce a viable population in the wild.\u00a0 Tissues have also been banked in CREW\u2019s Frozen Garden.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\n<\/div>\n      <\/div><div class=\"accordions__tab\" role=\"tab\" data-aos=\"fade-up\">\n        <span class=\"accordions__tab-toggle tab-toggle\" role=\"button\" title=\"toggle tab\" aria-label=\"toggle tab\"><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-down\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>\n        <\/span>\n        <div class=\"accordions__tab-content tab-body\" role=\"tabpanel\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-169267 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cincinnatizoo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/northern-wild-monkshood-Aaron-Carlson-279x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"360\" height=\"387\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 360px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 360\/387;\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Shoot tips collected from wild plants in Akron, OH, were used to initiate plant tissue culture lines of Northern Wild Monkshood.\u00a0 This population has been particularly vulnerable to salt run-off from a nearby road and an invasive species.\u00a0 Tissue culture-propagated plants were produced in the Plant Research Division of CREW and were given to collaborators at Gorge Metro Parks to augment their population at risk.<\/p>\n<p>\n<\/div>\n      <\/div><\/div>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row el_id=&#8221;criobiobank&#8221; el_class=&#8221;hide&#8221;][vc_column]\n    <div class=\"large-portal\" data-aos=\"fade-up\">\n        <div class=\"large-portal__image\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cincinnatizoo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/crew-science-cryobiobank-tank.jpg\" alt=\"\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1024px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1024\/683;\">\n        <\/div>\n        <div class=\"large-portal__content\">\n            <h3 class=\"large-portal__title\">CryoBioBank\u00ae<\/h3>\n            <p>The Local Flora Project\u2019s goal is to understand how changes in our region over the past 200 years have affected local flora.<\/p>\n<p>CryoBioBank\u00ae is a cryostorage facility for long-term germplasm storage of seeds and tissues of threatened plants.<\/p><a class=\"button\" href=\"https:\/\/cincinnatizoo.org\/conservation\/crew\/cryobiobank\/\" target=\"_self\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"\" title=\"\">CryoBioBank<\/a><\/div>\n        <svg width=\"0\" height=\"0\" viewBox=\"0 0 100 100\">\n        <defs>\n            <clipPath id=\"large-portal-clip\" clipPathUnits=\"objectBoundingBox\">\n            <path d=\"M 1,0 L 1,1 L 0.04,1.002 C -0.002,0.898 0.098,0.304 0.03,0 L 1,0 L 1,0 L 1,0 L 1,0 L 1,0 L 1,0 L 1,0 L 1,0 Z\"><\/path>\n            <\/clipPath>\n        <\/defs>\n        <\/svg>\n        <svg width=\"0\" height=\"0\" viewBox=\"0 0 100 100\">\n        <defs>\n            <clipPath id=\"large-portal-clip-mobile\" clipPathUnits=\"objectBoundingBox\">\n            <path d=\"M 0,0.038 C 0.236,-0.002 0.698,0.068 1.002,0.022 L 1,1 L 0,1 L 0,0.038 Z\"><\/path>\n            <\/clipPath>\n        <\/defs>\n        <\/svg>\n    <\/div>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_column_text] Conserving Threatened Plants [\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text] CREW scientists in the Plant Research Division work to conserve threatened plant species that cannot be conserved through conventional seed banking methods\u2014known as exceptional plants.\u00a0 To do this, we focus on developing protocols for banking threatened exceptional plants using plant tissue culture (in vitro technologies) and cryopreservation.\u00a0 Our goals [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":216462,"parent":84,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-216438","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Exceptional Plant Signature Project | Cincinnati Zoo<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cincinnatizoo.org\/conservation\/crew\/exceptional-plant-signature-project\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Exceptional Plant Signature Project | Cincinnati Zoo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[vc_row][vc_column][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_column_text] Conserving Threatened Plants [\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text] CREW scientists in the Plant Research Division work to conserve threatened plant species that cannot be conserved through conventional seed banking methods\u2014known as exceptional plants.\u00a0 To do this, we focus on developing protocols for banking threatened exceptional plants using plant tissue culture (in vitro technologies) and cryopreservation.\u00a0 Our goals [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cincinnatizoo.org\/conservation\/crew\/exceptional-plant-signature-project\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cincinnati Zoo &amp; 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