According to the Red List of threatened species 44 plant species are critically endangered, 113 endangered and 87 vulnerable (IUCN, 2000). Many medicinal plants are also in trouble from over harvesting and destruction of habitat. Population growth, urbanization and the unrestricted collection of medicinal plants from the wild is resulting in an over-exploitation of natural resources. Therefore, the management of traditional medicinal plant resources has become a matter of urgency. An ever increasing demand of uniform medicinal plants based medicines warrants their mass propagation through plant tissue culture strategy. Tissue culture technology is potent and has opened extensive areas of research for biodiversity conservation. Tissue culture protocols have been developed for a wide range of medicinal plants, which includes endangered, rare and threatened plant species. Some of these medicinal plants are Saussaurea

Red Data Book has a long list of many endangered medicinal plants in which genus Aconitum, known as monkshood, wolfsbane, Devil's helmet or blue rocket, belonging to the family Ranunculaceae finds a key position. There are over 250 species of Aconitum. These herbaceous perennial plants are chiefly natives of the mountainous parts of the Northern Hemisphere and are characterised by significant and valuable medicinal properties. Illegal and unscientific extraction from the wild has made the important species of this genus endangered. This review focuses on the importance and medicinal uses of the genus (on the basis of literature cited from different Books and Journals and web, visits to the sites and questionnaires), which have been documented and practiced on the basis of traditional as well as scientific knowledge. The review further presents an insight on the role of conventional and modern biotechnological methods for the conservation of the said genus, with special reference to Uttarakhand. Further, it is suggested that the policies of government agencies in coordination with the local bodies, scientists, NGOs and end-users be implemented for the sustainable conservation of Aconitum.

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In vitro flowering and effective micropropagation protocol were studied in Swertia chirayita, an important medicinal plant using axillary bud explants. The Murashige and Skoog's medium (MS) supplemented with benzyl amino purine (BAP) 1.0 mg L−1 and adenine sulfate 70.0 mg L−1 was found optimum for production of multiple shoots. In the present study, incubation of flowering cultures on BAP supplemented medium (during shoot multiplication) was found necessary for flowering (6 weeks). However, concentrations of auxins-like IBA (0–2.0 mg/L) were ineffective to form reproductive buds. Subculture duration, photoperiod, and carbon source type do have influence on the in vitro flowering. The mature purple flowers were observed when the cultures were maintained in the same medium. This is the very first report that describes in vitro flowering system to overcome problems associated with flower growth and development as well as lay foundation for fruit and seed production in vitro in Swertia chirayita.

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