Nymphaea Tetragona at risk

The BBC recently reported some disheartening news from India.

     Just one of a couple aquatic plants in the news of recent is a report from India that nymphaea Tetragona is becoming increasingly harder to find in the native pools in India.

    There are now a few tetragona waterlily varieties, a dwarf small white in most circumstances. It is unlikely the native India type is the tetragona found in your back yard or commercially.

   Leading botanist Pramod Tandon said that efforts to save Nymphaea tetragona, found only in a small private pond in India, have not been effective. Now these plants are only surviving on a small piece of private land in the north-eastern state of Meghalaya.

With less than 30 plants Professor Tandon fears the species may soon no longer exist in India. The professor is trying to save the remaining plants and finds it more important than cultivating them. They have used common methods to cultivate more of the plants from micro-propagation to seeds which have led to fewer than normal successful transplants.

The BBC article can be found here. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8269273.stm 

BIO: “Professor Dr. Pramod Tandon, a graduate of Lucknow University, did his Ph.D. from Jodhpur University in 1976. He joined as a Lecturer in the Department of Botany at North-Eastern Hill University in August 1977. In 1988 he became a Professor of Plant Physiology in the Department.

On a National Scholarship for Study Abroad of Government of India, he worked as a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at the University of California, Irvine USA during 1979-80. During 1989 to 1995 he was associated in collaborative research with several Universities and National Institute of Agrobiological Resources in Japan leading to a long-term collaboration on Plant Conservation Biotechnology

Prof. Tandon’s group has made significant contribution in mass micropropagation, reestablishment and conservation of Indian endemics from northeastern region, namely Nepenthes khasiana (a unique Indian insectivorous plant), Coptis teeta, Nymphaea tetragonoloba, Ilex khasiana and several orchids. Besides developing protocols for rapid propagation of some forest trees, the group has developed an embryogenic system for afforestation of Pinus kesiya. The findings on PCR based molecular characterization of rare and endangered plants have lead to the understanding of their rarity in nature and help in developing conservation strategies. He has developed an improved cryoprotectant for vitrification of cells that has wide applicability for cryopreservation of plant germplasm. Great innovation was shown in utilizing the solutions similar to ones used for vitrification for incorporation of high molecular weight substances into the permeabilized plant cells. His post-doctoral work relates to changes in mRNA transcripts in chloroplast DNA of higher plants during their evolution.” See “full text”