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Development of a growth chamber for cryptogams: a step toward ex situ conservation

  • Ecology and Biogeography - Short Communication
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Abstract

A low-cost plant growth system has been developed to grow and study different types of endangered cryptogams in ex situ conditions. These cryptogams, considered model plants, are primarily available in the hilly region and generally used for laboratory purposes. Soil degradation and environmental pollution affect these plants and impose severe threats to maintaining their natural habitat. Therefore, such plants need special care for preservation. These plants were collected and allowed to undergo the process of acclimatization by building up an artificial environment for plant growth in ex situ conditions. The ex-situ system was run by solar energy and facilitated by the designed control units to maintain temperature, humidity and light. The water supply mechanism was driven by the rainwater harvested throughout the year. Significant measures were adopted to maintain the optimum levels of dry weight, moisture content, and photosynthetic pigment content. So far the photosynthetic pigment concentration was concerned, the chlorophyll a concentration was found to increase in ex-situ conditions, whereas the concentration of chlorophyll b decreased. The dry weight in plants grown in ex-situ conditions was found to increase. The parameter values were shown significant (p ≤ 0.05) according to Duncan’s multiple range test. Thus, the development of the plants in the system signifies that this system could be a novel approach toward conserving cryptogams.

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Acknowledgements

The author Dr. Aveek Samanta acknowledge the financial support received from the STEM/Catalytic grant/acad_22/2022-23 funded by Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, to carry out the research work in Department of Botany, Prabhat Kumar College, Contai, West Bengal, India.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, Prabhat Kumar College, Contai, 721404, West Bengal, India

    Subir Samanta & Aveek Samanta

  2. Department of Physics (UG & PG), Prabhat Kumar College, Contai, 721404, West Bengal, India

    Pradipta Panchadhyaee

  3. Department of Biotechnology, Haldia Institute of Technology, Haldia, Purba Medinipur, 721657, West Bengal, India

    Tilak Raj Maity

  4. Department of Computer Science, Prabhat Kumar College, Contai, 721604, West Bengal, India

    Kousik Nanda

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  1. Subir Samanta
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  2. Pradipta Panchadhyaee
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  3. Tilak Raj Maity
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  4. Kousik Nanda
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Contributions

SS, TRM and AS performed the experiments, SS, PP, TRM, KN and AS analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript. SS and AS designed the work and corrected the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Aveek Samanta.

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Samanta, S., Panchadhyaee, P., Maity, T.R. et al. Development of a growth chamber for cryptogams: a step toward ex situ conservation. Braz. J. Bot 46, 661–666 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40415-023-00913-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40415-023-00913-9

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