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Using Somatic Embryogenesis…

Although conifer somat­ic embryo­ge­n­e­sis has been stud­ied for more than 30 years (since 1985), the the­o­ry behind is still poor­ly under­stood and based on com­plex path­ways hin­der­ing prac­ti­cal impli­ca­tions. One main cur­rent draw­back is that somat­ic embryos typ­i­cal­ly can only be obtained from juve­nile propag­ules of unknown per­for­mance such as zygot­ic embryos from seeds. Somat­ic embryo­ge­n­e­sis can­not rou­tine­ly be achieved from veg­e­ta­tive tis­sue of test­ed, mature trees, although some efforts are encour­ag­ing in pine and spruce. Somat­ic embryos from seeds are appro­pri­ate for the bulk prop­a­ga­tion of untest­ed vari­eties from elite fam­i­lies; but for mul­ti-vari­etal forestry based on test­ed vari­eties, somat­ic embryo­ge­n­e­sis must be cou­pled with cry­op­reser­va­tion to pre­serve the juve­nil­i­ty of embryo­genic lines, while cor­re­spond­ing vari­eties are field-test­ed. After eval­u­a­tion of tree per­for­mance (a long process, typ­i­cal­ly 10 – 15 years), select­ed vari­eties can be a pos­te­ri­ori and true-to-type prop­a­gat­ed from the cryo­s­tock. Addi­tion­al chal­lenges for somat­ic embryo ini­ti­a­tion from zygot­ic embryos arise and include low geno­type cap­ture, sub-opti­mal qual­i­ty and yield in embryos and plants as well as labo­ri­ous han­dling at dif­fer­ent steps result­ing in high costs of somat­ic trees com­pared to stan­dard seedlings.

DendroMax

funded by the BMEL and FNR 

dura­tion 2012 — 2021

Advancing Dendromass Production: Innovative Biotechnology and Practical Cultivation Methods

This project aimed to improve den­dro­mass pro­duc­tion in agri­cul­ture and forestry through the devel­op­ment of cut­ting-edge biotech­no­log­i­cal sys­tems and prac­ti­cal cul­ti­va­tion tech­niques. We focused on breed­ing and mass prop­a­ga­tion of select­ed geno­types of three tree species.

Key Objec­tives:

  • Expand the spec­trum of tree species avail­able for com­mer­cial use
  • Enhance eco­nom­ic via­bil­i­ty of den­dro­mass production
  • Devel­op test­ed, high-per­for­mance clones with improved resis­tance for:
  • Hybrid Larch (Lar­ix x eurolepis)
  • Dou­glas Fir (Pseudot­suga men­ziesii)
  • Aspen (Pop­u­lus trem­u­la)

Inno­v­a­tive Approaches:

I. Somat­ic Embryogenesis:

  • Tra­di­tion­al method: Using zygot­ic embryos as start­ing material
  • Our aspi­ra­tion: Devel­op­ing tech­niques to direct­ly uti­lize select­ed adult elite trees

II. Method­olog­i­cal Optimisations:

  • Improv­ing somat­ic embryo­ge­n­e­sis pro­ce­dures for imma­ture zygot­ic embryos
  • Devel­op­ing new approach­es for mature zygot­ic embryos and elite tree tissues
  • Analysing genet­ic reg­u­la­tion of fun­da­men­tal embryo­ge­n­e­sis processes
  • Deriv­ing method­i­cal approach­es to elu­ci­date somat­ic embryo­ge­n­e­sis initiation

III. Aspen Propagation:

  • Focus­ing on tra­di­tion­al in-vit­ro prop­a­ga­tion methods
  • Objec­tive: Estab­lish a rep­re­sen­ta­tive spec­trum of geno­types in vit­ro for mass propagation

By advanc­ing these tech­niques, we improved the effi­cien­cy and sus­tain­abil­i­ty of den­dro­mass pro­duc­tion, con­tribut­ing to both eco­nom­ic growth and envi­ron­men­tal con­ser­va­tion in the forestry sec­tor. This project served as a method­olog­i­cal base for fol­low-up projects like OPAL and Larch­For­Flex­i­bil­i­ty. 

MULTIFOREVER

funded by BMBF and ForestValue

dura­tion 2019 — 2022

Advancing Conifer Production: MULTIFOREVER Project

This project aimed to reform conifer pro­duc­tion through mul­ti-vari­etal forestry based on somat­ic embryo­ge­n­e­sis. This inno­v­a­tive approach seeks to inten­si­fy and opti­mize conifer pro­duc­tion for the forestry indus­try on a Euro­pean scale.

Key Project Details:

  • Objec­tive: Advance somat­ic embryo­ge­n­e­sis in conifers towards mul­ti-vari­etal forestry
  • Con­sor­tium: Sev­en pub­lic and pri­vate insti­tutes from five EU coun­tries and Argentina
  • Species Focus: Eco­nom­i­cal­ly impor­tant conifers includ­ing Pinus pinaster, P. tae­da, P. elliot­tii x P. carib­aea var. Hon­duren­sis, Pseudot­suga men­ziesii, Picea abies, Lar­ix decid­ua, and L. x eurolepis

Project Goals:

  1. Estab­lish a val­ue-added chain for somat­ic tree pro­duc­tion in forestry
  2. Devel­op a mutu­al strat­e­gy to make somat­ic trees eco­nom­i­cal­ly viable
  3. Solve long­stand­ing issues through col­lab­o­ra­tive approaches
  4. Test somat­ic embryo­ge­n­e­sis pro­duc­tion as a pilot for prac­ti­cal and eco­nom­ic considerations

Inno­v­a­tive Approaches:

  • Shar­ing exper­tise and SE-col­lec­tions among part­ners to max­i­mize output
  • Explor­ing plan­ning, up-scal­ing, mar­ket­ing, and pub­lic engage­ment aspects of SE production

Impact:

MULTIFOREVER hold the promise to trans­form conifer pro­duc­tion by address­ing exist­ing chal­lenges and cre­at­ing eco­nom­i­cal­ly viable solu­tions for the forestry sec­tor. By lever­ag­ing somat­ic embryo­ge­n­e­sis and mul­ti-vari­etal forestry, the project helped to enhance pro­duc­tiv­i­ty, sus­tain­abil­i­ty, and adapt­abil­i­ty in conifer plantations.

Project part­ners:

  • Insti­tu­to Nacional de Tec­nolo­gia Agropecuaria 
  • Basque Insti­tute for Agri­cul­tur­al Research and Development
  • Nation­al Research Insti­tute for Agriculture
  • Nat­ur­al Resources Insti­tute Finland
  • Tech­no­log­i­cal Institute
  • Umeâ Plant Sci­ence Centre
KlonIdee

funded by BMBF

dura­tion 2014 — 20219

Development of Novel Biotechnology-Supported Breeding and Production Methods for Lady’s Slipper Orchids (Cypripedium, Paphiopedilum)

The joint project aimed to enable the pro­duc­tion of Lady’s Slip­per orchids (gen­era Cypri­pedi­um and Paphio­pe­dilum) and make them glob­al­ly mar­ketable. Until now, mar­ket devel­op­ment has been lim­it­ed by the inabil­i­ty to prop­a­gate unique breed­ing suc­cess­es in suf­fi­cient quan­ti­ties with­in rea­son­able timeframes.

Project objec­tives:

  1. Devel­op inno­v­a­tive biotech­no­log­i­cal approach­es, pri­mar­i­ly somat­ic embryo­ge­n­e­sis, as a foun­da­tion for production.
  2. Make out­stand­ing results of cross-breed­ing eco­nom­i­cal­ly viable.
  3. Adapt and devel­op fun­da­men­tal meth­ods of ploidy breed­ing for both genera.
  4. Cre­ate nov­el breeds with sig­nif­i­cant­ly improved orna­men­tal value.

Key strate­gies:

- For Cypri­pedi­um spp.

  • Devel­op effi­cient tech­no­log­i­cal process­es for out­door pro­duc­tion, focus­ing on nutri­ent, tem­per­a­ture, humid­i­ty, and light regimes.
  • Achieve a reduc­tion in cul­ti­va­tion time until flow­er­ing capability.
  • Find ear­ly signs for the onset of flowering.

- For both genera:

  • Uti­lize somat­ic embryo­ge­n­e­sis in com­bi­na­tion with cross-breeding.
  • Apply biotech­no­log­i­cal meth­ods such as:
  • Asym­bi­ot­ic cul­ti­va­tion from seeds in vitro
  • Clon­al prop­a­ga­tion through meris­tem and shoot culture
  • Pro­to­corm mul­ti­pli­ca­tion and somat­ic embryogenesis
  • Pro­to­plast cul­ture and polyploidisation

Out­come:

  1. Improved plant cul­ture and regen­er­a­tion methods.
  2. Uti­liza­tion of exist­ing sin­gle plants and cross-breed­ing prog­e­ny for clone vari­ety development.
  3. Cross­ings and appli­ca­tion of pre­vi­ous research results with Cypripedium.
  4. Eco­nom­ic exploita­tion of long-term clas­si­cal cross-breed­ing results using biotech­no­log­i­cal meth­ods, some for the first time in Paphio­pe­dilum.

This project com­bined applied research and breed­ing exper­tise to har­ness the enor­mous poten­tial of somat­ic embryo­ge­n­e­sis in con­junc­tion with cross-breed­ing, aim­ing to advance the pro­duc­tion and mar­ketabil­i­ty of Lady’s Slip­per orchids worldwide.

Project part­ners:

Fehrle Stau­den

Orchideen von Miquel