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Seed banks or gene banks for seeds are infrastructures capable of storing and preserving the longevity of seeds. Seed banks are established to protect the genetic biodiversity of plants from natural disasters and climate change (Warr et al., 1993). Currently, there are about 1000 seed banks around the world. With Svalbard seed bank or Doomsday vault, which is the largest seed bank in the world capable of withstanding bombings, earthquakes, and other disasters.

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The industrialization of agriculture has made crops less genetically diverse, which has a detrimental effect since they cannot adapt appropriately to their environment (Richards, 2001). Seed banks offer preventive measures to ensure that agricultural biodiversity is maintained and protected. Moreover, Plants are susceptible to climate change; in the context of climate change, gene banks can offer communities sources of climate-resilient seeds (Maharjan & Maharjan, 2017).

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Efforts have been made in the establishment of seed banks in the Philippines. The establishment of community seed banks (CSB) has been undertaken by the Southeast Asia Regional Initiatives for Community Empowerment (SEARICE). The creation of these CSBs has been proposed with the help of research institutions, universities, government, and non-government organizations to empower small-scale farmers and communities in Southeast Asia since 1996. CSBs in the Philippines became a model for climate resiliency and agrobiodiversity. In the province of Bohol, the Farmer’s organization established CSB to access high-yielding and climate-resilient local rice varieties that are grown organically. Moreover, in 2002, the farmers in Malitbog village of Dagohoy municipality experience severe drought. They mitigated its effect through CSBs by distributing seeds through affected farmers.

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Amaranthus spinosus or more commonly known in the Philippines as "kulitis", is a species of annual plants that can grow up to 2.5 meters tall. Its leaves are simple, alternate, has long petioles, and elliptical or broad-ovate. It can be dark green, light green or red. Its flowers are in axillary clusters and often spherical,
but with a reduced terminal spike, its upper clusters are often leafless. Its seeds are either black or brown in color.

In the Philippines, kulitis is an excellent source of vitamins (A, B6, C, riboflavin, folate, and K) and dietary minerals (including calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, and copper). Its leaves are used as an ingredient for an Ilonggo dish called Laswa.

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Pongamia pinnata is a medium-sized glabrous semievergreen tree growing up to 18 m or higher, with a short bole and spreading crown. Its young leaves are alternate, shiny, and pinkish-red, and mature leaves are glossy and deep green. Flowers are lilac, white to pinkish, fragrant, paired along rachis in axillary, pendent, and in long racemes or panicles. Seeds are usually one, rarely two, elliptical or reniform, 1.7–2.0 cm broad, wrinkled, and with reddish-brown leathery testa (Badole et al., 2012).

This plant has a potential to be used as an effective therapeutic remedy due to its low toxicity towards mammalian cells. It has also been applied as a crude drug for the treatment of tumors, piles, skin diseases, and ulcers, its root is effective for treating
gonorrhea, cleaning gums, teeth, and ulcers, and is used in vaginal
and skin diseases (Muthu et al., 2006; Rout et al.,
2009; Pavithra et al., 2010; Al Muqarrabun et al., 2013)

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Basella alba is a herbaceous, perennial vine cultivated as a leafy vegetable and ornamental in tropical and subtropical and occasionally extending into temperate regions as an annual plant. It growns into a slender, twining vine, the stems at first stout, to 2 cm thick, green, after several months of growth and attaining height of 15-45 cm,  becoming slender, elongate and climbing. Leaves are sessile or short petiolate, 4-7 cm long, entire, fleshy, ovate. The juvenile leaves often larger, apically rounded, obtuse or acute, basally cuneate, truncate, or cordate, and the lateral venation somewhat obscure. It flowers are subsessile or pedicellate on juvenile forms; perfect, sepals are white, pink, or red, 3-5 mm long, united to above the middle, urceolate to cylindrical. Fruits are dark purple or black baccate drupe, and the perianth parts are enlarged, succulent and enveloping the globose seed and ovary.

The plant is rich in proteins, carbohydrates, minerals like Iron, Calcium, and Vitamin A & C. The essential amino acids present in it are Arginine, Leucine, Isoleucine, Lysine, Threonine and Tryptophan. It has been attributed with gastro-protective activity, ulcer healing, anti-inflammatory activity, wound healing activity. Basella alba is reported to improve testosterone levels in males, thus boosting libido. Decoction of the leaves is recommended as a safe laxative in pregnant women and children.  Its use has been discovered as asperient, rubefacient and for catarrhl infections. Some of the compounds available especially in the plant are basellasaponins, kaempherol, betalin, etc (Adhikari et al., 2012).

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Ardisia elliptica is a small, evergreen shrub or a tree that can grow up to 13 m tall. The petiole is marginate, 5-10 mm long; and the leaf blade is 6-12-16 cm long and 3-7 cm broad, oblanceolate or obovate in shape, subleathery, dull and densely punctate abaxially. Its flowers are leathery, pink or white, 6-8 mm. Fruits are subglobose, red or purplish black, ca. 8 mm in diameter, minutely punctate, fleshy (Chen & Pipoly, 1996).

Its fruit and young shoot are edible, its flowers and fruits can be used as flavouring for other dishes. Kobayashi and de Mejía (2005) discovered a potential for pharmaceutical applications from extracts of the plants.  Antibacterial activity against four serovars of salmonella was observed with plant extracts from A. elliptica (Phadungkit and Luanratana, 2006).

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Passiflora foetida known as prutas-baguio in the Philippines, is a branched annual or perennial herbaceous vine 1-5 m tall with an annual or perennial woody tap root. Most parts of the above ground plant carry distinctive glandular hairs, the tips of which secrete a distinctively odorous substance. Stems are 1-5 m long, branched, herbaceous, round, green and finely hairy. The leaves single, alternate, stipules to 1 cm long and divided into hair-like segments, petiole 2-10 cm long without nectary glands, blades 5-15 cm long, 3 or 5 lobed, the base cordate, the edges are generally fringed with glandular hairs, the veins prominent, pale green and often finely hairy. Flowers are solitary in upper leaf axils, peduncle 3-5 cm long, bracts 2-4 cm long and deeply divided into hair-like segments that surround the flower and fruit. Fruits are oval, 2-3 cm long, smooth, and enclosed in hairy bracts. Ripe seeds are blackish, flattened, wedge-shaped, 3-4 mm long, irregularly ridged, and is surrounded by a transparent aril.

Most of the parts of P. foetida are edible: the fruits and row fruits can be eaten. Its leaves are high in protein, up to 6-7% (Voon & Kueh, 1999). The plant also possess medicinal properties. The leaves are used in baths for skin infections, the roots have antispasmodic properties, and the flowers have beneficial effects for breast illnesses.

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Abelmoschus esculentus is an erect, annual herb that can grow up to 1.8m tall. Its leaves are velvety and palmately lobed; flowers are yellow and Hibiscus-like. It has a round, succulent stem.

Its most common use is its young tender fruits, the okra, which can be eaten fresh or cooked as a vegetable. However, the leaves, flower buds and flowers can also be eaten. Its seeds can also be processed as a stimulant - roasted and grinded for use as non-caffeinated substitute for coffee (Saifullah & Rabbani, 2009).

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Momordica charantia, commonly known as bitter gourd or ampalaya in the Philippines, is an annual to perennial monoecious climbing or sprawling herb that can grow 2-3 m tall. It may be either hairless or slightly hairy. The leaves are carried singly along the stems on 3-5 cm long stalks, and each leaf is 4-10 cm long, rounded in outline, and deeply 5-9 lobed. The flowers occur singly in the upper leaf axils on 2-10 cm long stalks with a small leaf-like bract towards the base. Male flowers have a slender basal swelling which is continuous with the base of the sepal tube, which ends in five blunt sepals. There are five oval yellow petals 10-20 cm long, and five central stamens. Female flowers are similar to the male flowers but have a distinct warty swelling well below the base of the sepal tube and three stigmas. The pendulous cylindrical fruits are egg-shaped and 2-10 cm long (up to 20 cm in cultivated varieties), and covered with longitudinal ridges and warts. At maturity, they turn orange to yellow, and the tips split into three and turn back to reveal the yellow pulp and the bright red arils that enclose the seeds which adhere to the inside of the fruit. Its seeds are flattened, woody, 5-9 mm long, and has finely pitted surfaces.

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Solanum melongena or the egg plant is a tropical perennial plant. Their stem is spiny, having flowers that are white to purple in color with a five-lobed corolla and yellow stamens. They are capable of growing up to 40cm to 150 cm tall. They have large coarsely lobed leaves that are 10cm to 20cm long and 5cm to 10cm broad.

It is grown mainly for its edible fruit and is one of the most important vegetable crops in Asia (Hautea et al., 2016).

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Moringa oleifera or malunggay is a fast-growing, evergreen, deciduous tree. It can reach a height of 10–12; the bark has a whitish-grey color and is surrounded by thick cork. Young shoots have purplish or greenish-white, hairy bark. The tree has an open crown of drooping, fragile branches, and the leaves build up a feathery foliage of tripinnate leaves. The flowers of Moringa oleifera are hermaphroditic and fragrant. Moreover, the flowers are surrounded by five unequal yellowish-white petals.

‌It is one of the most valuable trees in the world, especially in the Philippines, where its parts are used for food and traditional medicine. Its leaves and seed oil are major materials in the food and nutrition industry (Palada, 2015).

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Raphanus sativus is an annual or biennial plant which consists of a rosette of leaves; it grows and produces flowering stems up to 2½' tall. The basal leaves are up to 7" long and 2½" across; they are oblanceolate, coarsely crenate, and pinnately lobed. The surface of the basal leaves is usually rough from stiff hairs. The upper side stems are very similar, except that there is often a red ring where they branch from the central stem. The alternate leaves on the stems are similar in appearance to the basal leaves, except that they are smaller, less likely to be deeply lobed, and narrowly ovate in shape.

This plant is  grown primarily for their roots. Its root and young leaves can be eaten either raw or cooked. It also has some medicinal uses: leaves, seeds and old roots are used in the treatment of asthma and other chest complaints; the fresh leaves, when juiced, can be used as a diuretic and laxative; seed is carminative, diuretic, expectorant, laxative and stomachic, it is taken internally in the treatment of indigestion, abdominal bloating, wind, acid regurgitation, diarrhoea and bronchitis. Lastlly, the plant contains raphanin, which is both antibacterial and antifungal.

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In eudicot plants, the zygote is divided transversely and forms a two-celled "proembryo". The cell towards the micropyle is known as the basal cell and the other is known as the terminal cell. The basal cell forms a long suspensor after a series of transverse divisions. The terminal cell divides longitudinally twice to form four cells; this is called the quadrant stage. The four cells of the quadrant stage also divide transversely to form the octant stage, where eight cells arranged in two tiers of four cells. The lower tier gives rise to the stem tip and cotyledons, while the upper tier is meant for the formation of the hypocotyl.

The octant cells undergo periclinal division to give rise to 16 more cells: eight outer cells and eight inner cells. The eight outer cells form the dermatogen, which develops into the epidermis after dividing anticlinally. Meanwhile, the inner cells form the periblem and plerome. The periblem develops into the cortex and the plerome develops into the stele. The basal cell divides several times to form a long suspensor of six to ten cells. The lowermost cell of the suspensor nearest to the developing embryo is the hypophysis. The hypophysis gives rise to the root cap, epidermis, and cortex of the root after another series of divisions.

The hypocotyl and cotyledon enlarges and results in the curvature of the cotyledons. At this stage, the embryo expresses a "horseshoe-shaped" structure. Once the embryo matures, the stem tip is terminal and the two cotyledons are lateral.

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In monocot plants, the zygote elongates and divides transversely to form the basal and terminal cells. The larger basal cell does not undergo division but instead forms a vesicular cell, while the terminal cells divide transversely to form two cells. Of these two cells, the lower cell divides vertically to form a pair of juxtaposed cells, while the middle cell divides transversely into two cells.

The two cells will then divide into quadrants. Furthermore, the cells near the quadrant will divide vertically, while the cells at the upper vesicular will undergo repeated transverse division. The quadrants will then divide into octants, and with periclinal division will form the dermatogen.

As development progresses, the periblem and plerome will differentiate. All the regions that the octants formed will then form into a single terminal cotyledon. The lowermost cell of the suspension divides vertically to form the plumule. Furthermore, the middle cell undergoes repeated division to form the hypocotyl and radicle.

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Difference between Eudicots and Monocots are found in their seed structure and embryonic development. The basal cell in eudicots forms a 6-10 celled suspensor, while monocots form a single celled suspensor. Moreover, the terminal cell of eudicots does not produce the radicle.
The first terminal cell division in eudicots is generally longitudinally, while in monocots the terminal cell divides transversely. Moreover, eudicots have two (2) cotyledons, while monocots have a single cotyledons. The plumule in eudicots is terminal, while the plumule in monocots is lateral.

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Seed dormancy is the state in which seeds do not germinate even if they are under favourable conditions. In most cases, dormancy allows seeds to overcome periods of time in which the nutrients that these seeds require are not provided or sparse (Bentsink & Koornneef, 2008). There are three types of seed dormancy: innate; enforced; and induced. Innate dormancy is when the seed remains dormant even in a favorable environment, possibly because the embryo is still immature after dispersal; enforced dormancy is the opposite of innate dormancy - plants are forced to stay dormant because of unfavourable environmental conditions, rendering them unable to germinate; and induced dormancy is when the seed has imbibed water, but cannot germinate because of extremely unfavourable environmental conditions, in this type of dormancy, the seed still fails to germinate even under favourable conditions. Seed dormancy can be broken either naturally (by completing the over-ripe period, production of growth hormones which promote germination, or leaching of inhibitors in the seed coat) or  artificially (through scarification, exposure to either heat or cold, applying hydraulic pressure, or by treating the seed coats with acid, particularly concentrated sulfuric acid). Furthermore, plant growth regulators (eg. auxins, gibberellins, and cytokinins) that promote growth can also break seed dormancy. Seed dormancy can be seen in plants such as those from the genus Ceanothus, Arctostaphylos, and from the family of legumes (Yildiz et al., 2017).

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Establishment of the Apical-Basal and Radial Axis

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Establishment of the Apical-Basal and Radial Axis

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The establishment of the apical-basal and radial axis serves as the "body plan" for the plant. Radial patterning produces the three tissue systems, while axial patterning establishes the apical-basal axis.

Differential expression of the WUSCHEL (WUS) family of homeodomain transcription factors separates the different domains along the apical-basal axis in the early cell: the WUSCHEL RELATED HOMEOBOX2 (WOX2) gene expression marks the apical cell after the initial division of the zygote. WOX2 expression appears sufficient to confer important characteristics of the apical cell lineage. Furthermore, auxin signal transduction and regulated auxin transport constitute prerequisites for subsequent radial differentiation. These are required for the orientation of cell divisions and vascular differentiation in the basal domain (Capron et al., 2009).

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Seed germination is the growth of the plant contained within the seed. It is a vital stage in plant growth, as it is a determinant of plant productivity. According to Ali and Elozeiri (2017), seeds' survival rate and vegetative growth are associated with the physiological, biochemical, and morphological changes that the seeds experience during germination. The seed germination process can be distinguished into three phases:

1. The rapid imbibition of water by the seed

2. The most critical phase, which is the reactivation of metabolism

3. Protrusion of the radicle

Phase 1 of seed germination initiates seed growth. This starts when the seeds absorb water through imbibition (Segovia et al., 2007). Water imbibition is the first step in seed germination. It stimulates the embryo to produce phytohormones, particularly gibberellic acid (GA) which diffuses to the aleurone layer, initiating a signaling cascade that results in the synthesis of α-amylases and other hydrolytic enzymes. These hydrolytic enzymes then secrete into the endosperm and hydrolyzed food reserve, such as starch, lipid, protein hemicellulose, polyphosphate, and other storage materials which are hydrolyzed into a more simple and available form for more efficient embryo uptake (Ali & Elozeiri, 2017).  Imbibition starts with the entry of water to the seed, which is distributed in the seed cover and absorbed by the seed tissue. Furthermore, rupture of the seed coat will then stimulate water intake. This allows the seed to resume its metabolic activities, restore membrane and organelles, and activates enzymatic systems.

Phase 2 immediately follows hydration. Seed imbibition triggers biochemical and cellular processes. This involves the reactivation of metabolism - which also stimulates the resumption of cellular respiration and the biogenesis of mitochondria, along with the translation and/or degradation of stored mRNAs, DNA repair, the transcription, and translation of new mRNAs, and the onset of reserve mobilization. These processes are followed by Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS), which function as cellular messengers or toxic molecules on seed hydration (Ali & Elozeiri, 2017).

Finally, phase 3 - the protrusion of the radicle or radicle emergence is considered as the completion of germination. The visible protrusion of the radicle tip is a "transition point" that is characterized by the loss of desiccation tolerance and acts as a molecular checkpoint (in Arabidopsis, regulated by ABI5), a developmental molecular switch from germination to the "seedling program".

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After seed germination, it is followed by mobilization of food reserves (lipids, carbs, and proteins) from the endosperm and cotyledon, which provides energy for the plant until it becomes photoautotrophic (Pritchard et al., 2002). The food reserves are converted into forms that are readily transported into their specific sites. Starch is the most common food reserve carbohydrates in seeds; this is then transformed into simpler sugars with the help of gibberellin. Gibberellin stimulates the synthesis of α-amylase and proteases enzyme (Bewley et al., 2013). The proteases activate the β-amylase, which, together with the α-amylase, converts starch to glucose. Oils are transformed into fatty acids by lipases, which are then converted into sugars. Moreover, storage proteins are transformed into amino acids by proteases, which are converted into nitrogen.

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Adhikari, R., Kumar, H. N., & Shruthi, S. D. (2012). A review on medicinal importance of Basella alba L (No. RESEARCH).

Ali, A. S., & Elozeiri, A. A. (2017). Metabolic processes during seed germination. Advances in Seed Biology, 141-166.

Al Muqarrabun, L. M. R., Ahmat, N., Ruzaina, S. A. S., Ismail, N. H., & Sahidin, I. (2013). Medicinal uses, phytochemistry and pharmacology of Pongamia pinnata (L.) Pierre: A review. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 150(2), 395–420.

Badole, S., Jadhav, S., Wagh, N., & Menaa, F. (2012). General Beneficial Effects of Pongamia pinnata (L.) Pierre on Health. Bioactive Food as Dietary Interventions for the Aging Population: Bioactive Foods in Chronic Disease States, 445.

Bentsink, L., & Koornneef, M. (2008). Seed dormancy and germination. The Arabidopsis Book/American Society of Plant Biologists, 6.

Bewley, J. D., Bradford, K. J., Hilhorst, H. W., & Nonogaki, H. (2013). Mobilization of stored reserves. In Seeds (pp. 183-246). Springer, New York, NY.

Capron, A., Chatfield, S., Provart, N., & Berleth, T. (2009). Embryogenesis: pattern formation from a single cell. The Arabidopsis Book/American Society of Plant Biologists, 7.

Chauvet, H., Pouliquen, O., Forterre, Y., Legué, V., & Moulia, B. (2016). Inclination not force is sensed by plants during shoot gravitropism. Scientific reports, 6(1), 1-8.

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Hautea, D. M., Taylo, L. D., Masanga, A. P. L., Sison, M. L. J., Narciso, J. O., Quilloy, R. B., … Shelton, A. M. (2016). Field Performance of Bt Eggplants (Solanum melongena L.) in the Philippines: Cry1Ac Expression and Control of the Eggplant Fruit and Shoot Borer (Leucinodes orbonalis Guenée). PLOS ONE, 11(6), e0157498.
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Jaffe, M. J., Leopold, A. C., & Staples, R. C. (2002). Thigmo responses in plants and fungi. American Journal of Botany, 89(3), 375-382.

Kobayashi H, Mejía E de, (2005). The genus Ardisia: a novel source of health-promoting compounds and phytopharmaceuticals. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 96(3):347-354.

Maharjan, S., & Maharjan, K. (2018). Roles and contributions of community seed banks in climate adaptation in Nepal. Development in Practice, 28(2), 292-302.

Muthert, L. W. F., Izzo, L. G., van Zanten, M., & Aronne, G. (2020). Root Tropisms: Investigations on Earth and in Space to Unravel Plant Growth Direction. Frontiers in Plant Science, 10.

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traditional healers in Kancheepuram District of Tamil Nadu, India. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 2, 43–52

Orozco-Segovia, A., Márquez-Guzmán, J., Sánchez-Coronado, M. E., Gamboa de Buen, A., Baskin, J. M., & Baskin, C. C. (2007). Seed anatomy and water uptake in relation to seed dormancy in Opuntia tomentosa (Cactaceae, Opuntioideae). Annals of Botany, 99(4), 581-592.

Palada, M. C. (2015, November). The moringa industry in the Philippines: status, challenges and opportunities. In I International Symposium on Moringa 1158 (pp. 447-454).

Pavithra, H.R., Shivanna, M.B., Chandrika, K., Prasanna, K.T., Gowda, B., 2010. Seed
protein profiling of Pongamia pinnata (L.) Pierre for investigating inter and intraspecific population genetic diversity. International Journal of Science and Nature 1,
246–252.

Perrin, R. M., Young, L. S., Narayana Murthy, U. M., Harrison, B. R., Wang, Y. A. N., Will, J. L., & Masson, P. H. (2005). Gravity signal transduction in primary roots. Annals of botany, 96(5), 737-743.

Phadungkit M, Luanratana O, 2006. Anti-Salmonella activity of constituents of Ardisia elliptica Thunb. Natural Product Research, 20(7):693-696.

Richards, A. J. (2001). Does low biodiversity resulting from modern agricultural practice affect crop pollination and yield?. Annals of botany, 88(2), 165-172.

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variability of Pongamia pinnata: a bioenergy legume tree. Crop Breeding and
Applied Biotechnology 9, 268–273.

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‌Tropism

Tropism is a biological phenomenon in response to a stimulus. In plants, this mechanism allows the plant to adapt to its environment by growing towards or away from the stimulus (Mutherd et al., 2020). These factors, namely, light, gravity, and touch, influence plant growth

Phototropism

This is the direct response of plants to light. Plants have the ability to re-orient their shoot growth towards or away from the direction of light in order to enhance their ability to optimize photosynthetic capacity (Kathare & Huq, 2020). There are photoreceptors and hormones such as auxins in plants that detect light. Auxins are directed to the side of the stem that is furthest from the light. The accumulation of these auxin triggers elongation of the cells.

Gravitropism

This is the gravity-directed growth or the differential growth of the plant in response to gravity. Positive gravitropism is the growth towards the direction of gravity. This allows the plant to anchor deep into the soil and allows the roots to further grow into the soil allowing for greater ion and water absorption (Perrin et al., 2017). In contrast, negative gravitropism dictates the upward growth of the shoot system up towards the sun in the opposite direction of gravity which supports leaf positioning for photosynthesis (Chauvet et al., 2016).

Thigmotropism

Thigmotropism is the plant grown in response to touch or contact with an object. Positive thigmotropism can be associated with climbing plants in which they grow towards the stimulus; they have specialized structures called tendrils that stretch and twines around an object for support. Negative thigmotropism, on the other hand, can be seen with roots. As roots extend deep into the soil, they grow away from an object. This mechanism allows the root to grow unimpeded through the soil, allowing for better chances of acquiring their nutrients (Jaffe et al., 2002).