The Brazilian biomes (Amazon, Atlantic Forest, Cerrado, Caatinga, Pantanal, and Pampa) comprise one of the highest levels of plant diversity in the world; however, non-sustainable practices, deforestation, and land use have resulted in significant losses and fragmentation of the native forests. These ecosystems are now threatened and protection of their native plants through ex situ conservation is an urgent necessity. Cryopreservation and in vitro conservation are complementary options for securing and protecting Brazil's native plant species because their potential economic value is critically important to develop strategies that will (1) support their sustainable utilization, (2) protect against the over-exploitation of species growing in natural habitats, and (3) conserve the genetic diversity of germplasm from species of different provenances. Biotechnological approaches will help to address future economic and environmental demands placed upon already at-risk species. Conserving seed germplasm ex situ provides an additional safeguard against the risks (e.g., loss due to disease, climate change) of field conservation. Moreover, seed banks and cryobanks permit the long-term conservation of a wider genetic base; this offsets the labor and space intensive costs of conserving in the active growing state. This paper is a compilation of the current status of strategies applied for conserving Brazilian native plant species.

Polysaccharides from fungal wastes were partially characterized and evaluated for their protective effects against bacterial spot caused by Xanthomonas gardneri on four tomato cultivars: Santa Cruz Kada, Natália, BRS Sena and Forty. The polysaccharides were extracted from spent mushroom substrate of Pleurotus ostreatus, residual brewery yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), and basidiocarps discarded from Lentinula edodes production. These polysaccharides were characterized for total carbohydrates, phenolics and proteins content, pH, scatter intensity, conductivity, Zeta potential, DPPH scavenging assay and infrared spectroscopy. The effects of time interval between treatment and inoculation (4 or 7 days) and polysaccharide concentrations (0.5 or 1.5 mg.mL-1) were assessed for disease severity using a susceptible tomato cultivar. The polysaccharide action mode was investigated by determining the activity of peroxidases and phenylalanine ammonialyase and by quantifying flavonoids and total phenolics in the plants

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