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Masungi Georeserve is a conservation area located in the lush forests of Rizal. It is a sanctuary for more than 400 native wildlife species. It also protects 60 million years old limestones.

Location: Kilometer 47 Marcos Highway, Baras, Rizal, Philippines, 1970, Marcos Highway, Baras, 1970 Rizal

Coordinates: 14.610026806212607, 121.30944378731223

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The chosen ten (10) plant species have beneficial properties or due to their conservation status. For instance, most of these plant species are excellent food sources, such as A. rostratus, F. nota, F. variegata, S. macrobotrys, C. verum, and C. zeylanicum. Fruits of A. rostratus are circular, fleshy, and succulent berries (Srzednicki & Borompichaichartkul, 2020). S. macrobotrys is also an excellent food source in the Philippines (Polinag, 2003). Besides that, some of these species contain medicinal properties, such as C. quadriloculare, F. variegata, C. verum (Ranasinghe et al., 2013), and D. meyeniana (Chang et al., 2009). Meanwhile, the loss of habitat has a significant impact on the survival of plants. C. quadriloculare is known as a critically endangered species (Fernando et al., 2008; Villanueva & Buot, 2015). Aside from the loss of habitat, C. riuminiana is facing threat due to illegal collecting of plants. Both species of S. macrobotrys and S.  juangonzalesii are rarely seen in the Philippines. Due to the rapid loss of rainforest in the Philippines, botanic gardens have started conserving the seeds of S. macrobotrys (Cambridge University Botanic Garden, 2020). The new species, S.  juangonzalesii, has insufficient data to determine its conservation status (Hadsall et al., 2016).

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A seed bank is a storage where seeds are preserved for genetic diversity. It prevents plant species from going extinct. It is also the storage for viable seeds of major food crops that a plant breeder needs. Additionally, seed banks are designed for food security in case a disaster happens.

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Establishment of Seed Banks in the Philippines 

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Establishment of Seed Banks in the Philippines 

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There are several efforts being made to establish seed banks in the Philippines. The Philippines is in compliance with the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) which aims to conserve plant genetic resources for sustainable agriculture and food security (FAO, 2021). In 2011, The Department of Agriculture (DA) allotted 192 million pesos to establish community seed banks (CSB). In their latest report on the implementation of ITPGRFA,  conservation efforts were made to conserve and develop plant genetic resources (FAO, 2017).

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Community seed banking has been a traditional practice in the Cordillera regions (Businessmirror, 2019). A su-ulan is a structure where rice, corn, root crops, and legumes harvested for food planting are stored for preservation and protection from pests. It has been proven to be the most effective way of seed conversation in the Philippines.

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Seeds are classified based on their number of cotyledons. Seeds that possess one (1) cotyledon are called monocots while seeds that possess two (2) cotyledons are called eudicots.

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The distinct patterns of embryogenesis is best illustrated by rice for monocots and Arabidopsis for eudicots. Here are the five (5) stages of development in both monocot and eudicot based on the shape of the embryo (Taiz et al., 2015).

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In the early events of morphogenesis, it shows the compartmentalization of the embryo along the apical-basal axis to three (3) distinct domains.

(1) Apical Domain

hypothesized to induce the shoot apical meristem and most of the cotyledons

(2) Central Domain

forms part of the hypocotyl, cotyledons, root, and root meristem initials

(3) Basal Domain

creates the quiescent center of root apical meristem and central root cap initials

Analyses of Arabidopsis mutants who have imperfections in the morphology of the seedling revealed the result from the lack of specific embryonic domains (Harada et al., 2010; Taiz et al., 2015).

The hormone auxin plays an important role in some of the patterning events in the development of plants, including embryogenesis. Auxin moves from basal to apical regions of the embryo from the two-cell stage up to the early globular stage.  With that, it generates an auxin maximum in the embryo. The transport of auxin is regulated by the PIN family of auxin efflux carriers  (Harada et al., 2010).

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Determination of Cell Fate in Radial Patterning

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Determination of Cell Fate in Radial Patterning

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There are three (3) primary tissue systems in the embryo that are arranged from the apical-basal axis–outer protoderm, the middle ground meristem and the inner procambium. Through Arabidopsis fass (fs) mutant embryos, it was proposed that consistent cell division patterns are not essential in establishing the radial pattern (Harada et al., 2010).

The outer protoderm layer coincidentally appears parallel in cell divisions to the surface of the octant-stage embryo. Protoderm cell fate markers (AtML1, PROTODERMAL FACTOR1 (PDF1) and PDF2) become limited to the outermost layer; eventually, the embryo. During postembryonic development, they are expressed in the developing epidermis, however they are not needed for the development of the root epidermis (Harada et al., 2010).

The embryonic root includes concentric rings of endodermis, cortex, and protoderm surrounding the procambium. The concentric rings of endodermis and cortex emerge from an asymmetric division of the ground meristem initial. It involves two GRAS*-type transcription factors, SHORTROOT (SHR), and SCARECROW (SCR) (Harada et al., 2010).

*GRAS - gibberellic acid insensitive (GAI), repressor of GAI (RGA) and scarecrow (SCR)

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Seed dormancy is defined as a component of plant fitness that causes a delay in germination until the arrival of a favorable growth season (Graeber et al., 2012).

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Physical and Mechanical Dormancy is observed in some species under the listed genera (Willian & Danida, 1985).

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The first phase of water uptake by the seed is the imbibition phase. It starts with the rapid entry of water into the dry seed. The water is scattered into the cracks, flaws, and crevices in the seed cover. Then, it is absorbed by the seed tissues. In the dry seed, the matric potential emerges from the binding of water to solid surfaces like surfaces of proteins and other macromolecules and microcapillaries of cell walls. This rehydration process will activate the basal metabolic processes which consist of respiration, transpiration, and translation. The imbibition phase stops when all possible binding sites for water become saturated (Hadas, 2005; Taiz et al., 2015).

Here is a simple experiment to demonstrate the phenomenon in imbibition of seeds.

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Tropism is a response of a plant to environmental stimuli. This affects the directional growth of the plant and is dependent on the direction of the stimuli. There are three kinds of tropism: gravitropism, phototropism and thigmotropism (Taiz et al., 2015).

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Phototropism is a directional movement of the plant in response to light. The movement can either be towards (positive phototropism) or away (negative phototropism) from the light source. Phototropism involves the main receptors phototropins (phot1 and phot 2) that converts blue light to biochemical signals.
These receptors changes the asymmetric distribution of auxin induction via the
downstream signal transducers (Taiz et al., 2015).

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Angiosperm food reserve are stored in the cotyledon and/or endosperm. Massive food reserves are mobilized after germination, providing energy until the plant becomes photoautotrophic. Gibberilins (GA) are responsible for the initiation of mobilization. The aleurone layer also contributes to the mobilization of food reserves. When GA reaches the aleurone layer, it prompts the generation of a-amylase that moves into the starchy endosperm. With that, the hydrolysis of starch commences. The product of hydrolysis is mostly glucose and maltose, and they are absorbed by the scutellum. Subsequently, conversion to sucrose occurs and lastly, it is dispersed to the developing seedling (Bewley et al., 2012).

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Thigmotropism is a mechanosensory response of a plant due to touch stimuli. Auxin elucidates that gripping response of the plant. Auxin increases in response to the touch stimulus. This results in the production of contractile proteins on the side of the stimulus that allows the plant to grip onto the object (Taiz et al., 2015).

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The process of gravitropism starts with the reorientation the plant. Reorientation of the plant results in the sedimentation of dense amyloplasts within the statocytes. The amyloplast travels the endodermal cells through the trasvacuolar strands to reach the lower side of the cell. Amyloplast sedimentation activates the signal transduction via the second messengers. The second messengers activate the relocalization of auxin transporters in the columella cells. The change in auxin efflux carriers affects the flow of auxin in the plant. This results in a change of cell elongation rates, resulting in organ curvature (Taiz et al., 2015).

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Bewley, J. D., Bradford, K. J., Hilhorst, H. W., & Nonogaki, H. (2012). Mobilization of Stored Reserves. Seeds, 183–246. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4693-4_5

BusinessMirror. (2019, January 27). Community seed banks create tomorrow’s biodiversity Edens.  Retrieved May 26, 2021, from https://businessmirror.com.ph/2019/01/28/community/seed-banks-create-tomorrows-biodiversity-edens/

Cambridge University Botanic Garden (CUBG). (2020, May 22). Strongylodon macrobotrys. Cambridge Botanic Garden. https://www.botanic.cam.ac.uk/the-garden/plant-list/strongylodon-macrobotrys/.

Chang, Y. T., Shen, J. J., Wong, W. R., & Yen, H. R. (2009). Alternative therapy for autosensitization dermatitis. Chang Gung Med J, 32(6).

FAO. (2017, January). Philippine Country Report on the implementation of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA). International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and  Agriculture | www.fao.org. http://www.fao.org/3/br425e/br425e.pdf

FAO, (2021). International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture | www.fao.org. International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture Retrieved May 26, 2021, from http://www.fao.org/plant-treaty/en/#:%7E:text=The%20objectives%20of%20the%20International, with%20the%20Convention%20on%20Biological

Fernando, E.S., Co, L.L., Lagunzad, D.A., Gruèzo, W.S.M., Barcelona, J.F., Madulid, D.A., Lapis, A.B., Texon, G.I., Manila, A.C., & Zamora, P.M. (2008). Threatened plants of the Philippines: a preliminary assessment. Asia Life Sciences Supplement, 3, 1-52.

Hadas, A. (2005). Germination and Seedling Establishment. Encyclopedia of Soils in the Environment, 130–137. https://doi.org/10.1016/b0-12-348530-4/00149-1

Hadsall, A. S., Alejado, M. D. R., Larona, A. R., & Lambio, I. A. (2016). Strongylodon juangonzalezii, a remarkable new species of Strongylodon (Fabaceae) from Mulanay, Quezon Province, Philippines. PhytoKeys, 73, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.73.10055

Harada, J. J., Belmonte, M. F., & Kwong, R. W. (2010). Plant Embryogenesis (Zygotic and Somatic). Encyclopedia of Life Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470015902.a0002042.pub2

Philstar. (2011, November 2). DA allots P192M for community seed banks.

Philstar.Com. https://www.philstar.com/business/2011/11/02/743313/da-allots-p192m-community-seed-banks

Polinag, Mercedita A. (2003). Food From the Wilderness (PDF). DENR Recommends. Retrieved from http://erdb.denr.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/denr_v12.pdf

Ranasinghe, P., Pigera, S., Premakumara, G. A. S., Galappaththy, P., Constantine, G. R., & Katulanda, P. (2013). Medicinal properties of ‘true’ cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum): a systematic review. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6882-13-275

Sadras, V., & Calderini, D. (2020). Crop Physiology Case Histories for Major Crops (1st ed.). Academic Press

Simpson, M. G. (2019). Plant Systematics (3rd ed.). Academic Press.

Stalker, T., & Wilson, R. F. (2016). Peanuts: Genetics, Processing, and Utilization (1st ed.). Academic Press and AOCS Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/C2015-0-00075-2

Srzednicki, G., & Borompichaichartkul, C. (2020). Konjac glucomannan: production, processing, and functional applications. CRC Press.

Taiz, L., Zeiger, E., Møller, I. M., & Murphy, A. S. (2015). Plant physiology and development (6th ed.). Sinauer Associates.

Villanueva, E. L., & Buot, I. E. (2015). Threatened Plant Species of Mindoro, Philippines. IAMURE International Journal of Ecology and Conservation, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.7718/ijec.v14i1.901

Willan, R. L. & Danida Forest Seed Centre. (1985). A Guide to Forest Seed Handling [E-book]. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. http://www.fao.org/3/AD232E/AD232E00.htm#TOC