Propagation of Juniper Species by Plant Tissue Culture: A Mini-Review

Abstract

The genus Juniperus (of the Cupressaceae family) is the second most prevalent group of conifers on Earth. Juniper species are widely dispersed in the Northern Hemisphere, in Europe and Asia, and in Africa and Central America. Juniper species are resistant to dry climates and can adapt to difficult environmental conditions. Most juniper species are important in both ecological and economic terms. However, today, many forests in which junipers occur are being reduced in size due to both natural causes (fires, for example) and human activity (uncontrolled exploitation of forests, etc.). Also, climate changes may have adversely affected the range of populations of different juniper species. For this reason, some juniper species are now categorized as rare or endangered, and require immediate protective action. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop effective strategies for ex situ conservation, including reliable procedures for Juniperus sp. reproduction for future reintroduction and restoration programs. The conservation strategies used until now with traditional forestry techniques (seed propagation, rooted cuttings, grafting) have not been satisfactory in many cases. Thus, increasing attention is being paid to the possibilities offered by in vitro culture technology, which enables the conservation and mass clonal propagation of different coniferous tree species. In this mini-review, we summarize the current state of knowledge regarding the use of various methods of the propagation of selected Juniperus species, with a particular emphasis on in vitro culture techniques.