The Balkan Botanic Garden of Kroussia, Northern Greece :

in this paper the profile of the Balkan Botanic Garden of Kroussia (BBGK) is outlined and basic illustrations are provided. Τhe location, establishment, facilities, organization and staff of BBGK, as well as the topography, soils and climate of its grounds, are presented. the plant conservation targets and policies formulated by bbgk in order to fulfil its mission are also described. This includes eight different complementary policies. These are the Only Native Plants policy, Important Plant Species (IPS) policy, Explicit Plant Documentation policy, Propagation of the IPS First policy, DNA Barcoding policy, Combined ex situ and in situ Conservation policy, Evaluation for Sustainable Exploitation policy and the Environmental Awareness on Native Plants policy. The living native plant collections of the BBGK are presented quantitatively and the number of plant sections and displays designed in the BBGK and in the newly established Garden of Environmental Awareness are described. BBGK’s mission is to support research, maintenance, propagation, evaluation, conservation and sustainable use of the native plants of Greece and the Balkans, combined with raising public awareness of the environment

Incorporating Biogeographical Principles in Horticulture :

The design and creation of the Ionian Islands Unique Rock Garden (IIURG), an innovative plant display in Thessaloniki, Greece, is described. This includes seven naturalistic rock gardens hosting twenty-two plant taxa of conservation priority. The unique nature of the IIURG is based on two features: the emulation of the natural geographic characteristics of the Ionian Islands (Greece) and the integration of the endemic elements of the islands’ native flora, focusing on the biogeographical significance of each. In this way, the IIURG represents an innovative concept in the horticulture of botanic gardens which embodies the natural biogeography and its basic concepts such as ‘islands’, ‘native’ and ‘endemism’. In aesthetic terms the garden looks like a natural sculpture and functions as a focal point. It is a carefully constructed plant display using environmentally sustainable principles with low levels of maintenance and irrigation required. The aim is that the IIURG should be used as a useful tool for awareness-raising on the conservation of prioritised plants

Chapter GIS and ex situ Plant Conservation

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Endophytic Bacteria From the Roots of the Medicinal Plant Alkanna tinctoria Tausch (Boraginaceae): Exploration of Plant Growth Promoting Properties and Potential Role in the Production of Plant Secondary Metabolites

Alkannin and shikonin (A/S) are enantiomeric naphthoquinones produced in the roots of certain plants from the Boraginaceae family such as Lithospermum spp. and Alkanna spp. They possess antimicrobial, anti-tumoral and wound healing properties. The production of secondary metabolites by Alkanna tinctoria might be influenced by its endomicrobiome. To study the interaction between this medicinal plant and its bacterial endophytes, we isolated bacteria from the roots of wild growing Alkanna tinctoria collected near to Athens and Thessaloniki in Greece. Representative strains selected by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry were identified by partial 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. In total, 197 distinct phylotypes of endophytic bacteria were detected. The most abundant genera recovered were Pseudomonas, Xanthomonas, Variovorax, Bacillus, Inquilinus, Pantoea, and Stenotrophomonas. Several bacteria were then tested in vitro for their plant growth promoting activity and the production of cell-wall degrading enzymes. Strains of Pseudomonas, Pantoea, Bacillus and Inquilinus showed positive plant growth properties whereas those of Bacteroidetes and Rhizobiaceae showed pectinase and cellulase activity in vitro. In addition, bacterial responses to alkannin and shikonin were investigated through resistance assays. Gram negative bacteria were found to be resistant to the antimicrobial properties of A/S, whereas the Gram positives were sensitive. A selection of bacteria was then tested for the ability to induce A/S production in hairy roots culture of A. tinctoria. Four strains belonging to Chitinophaga sp., Allorhizobium sp., Duganella sp., and Micromonospora sp., resulted in significantly more A/S in the hairy roots than the uninoculated control. As these bacteria can produce cell-wall degrading enzymes, we hypothesize that the A/S induction may be related with the plant-bacteria interaction during colonization

Bitter Is Better: Wild Greens Used in the Blue Zone of Ikaria, Greece

The current study reports an ethnobotanical field investigation of traditionally gathered and consumed wild greens (Chorta) in one of the five so-called Blue Zones in the world: Ikaria Isle, Greece. Through 31 semi-structured interviews, a total of 56 wild green plants were documented along with their culinary uses, linguistic labels, and locally perceived tastes. Most of the gathered greens were described as bitter and associated with members of Asteraceae and Brassicaceae botanical families (31%), while among the top-quoted wild greens, species belonging to these two plant families accounted for 50% of the wild vegetables, which were consumed mostly cooked. Cross-cultural comparison with foraging in other areas of the central-eastern Mediterranean and the Near East demonstrated a remarkable overlapping of Ikarian greens with Cretan and Sicilian, as well as in the prevalence of bitter-tasting botanical genera. Important differences with other wild greens-related food heritage were found, most notably with the Armenian and Kurdish ones, which do not commonly feature many bitter greens. The proven role of extra-oral bitter taste receptors in the modulation of gastric emptying, glucose absorption and crosstalk with microbiota opens new ways of looking at these differences, in particular with regard to possible health implications. The present study is also an important attempt to preserve and document the bio-cultural gastronomic heritage of Chorta as a quintessential part of the Mediterranean diet. The study recommends that nutritionists, food scientists, and historians, as well as policymakers and practitioners, pay the required attention to traditional rural dietary systems as models of sustainable health

Investigating the Invasion Pattern of the Alien Plant Solanum elaeagnifolium Cav. (Silverleaf Nightshade): Environmental and Human-Induced Drivers

Invasive alien plant species have impacts on nature conservation, ecosystem services and agricultural production. To identify environmental and human-related drivers of the invasion of Solanum elaeagnifolium (Solanaceae)—one of the worst alien invasive plants worldwide—we conducted an extensive drive-by survey across the Greek territory (presence/absence data; all national major multilane highways; 12–25% of the remaining road network; driven 3–5 times during 2000–2020). These data were linked in GIS with (i) physical environmental attributes (elevation, climate, soil properties) and (ii) type and intensity of human-related activities (land uses, settlements and road type). Compared to previous records, our survey showed that the range of S. elaeagnifolium increased by 1750% during the last decades, doubling its main distribution centers and reaching higher elevations. Our study revealed that the presence of S. elaeagnifolium is associated with (i) higher maximum temperatures and precipitation in summer and low precipitation in winter, as well as with (ii) soil disturbance related to agricultural activities, settlements and road networks, thus facilitating its spread mainly at low altitudes. Our study elucidates the current invasion pattern of S. elaeagnifolium and highlights the urgent need for its widespread monitoring, at least in the noninvaded areas in Greece that have been surveyed in this study. Preventative measures and integrative initiatives should be implemented quickly, and urgently incorporated into current agricultural, road network and conservation-management regimes

The Invasion and Long Naturalization of Solanum elaeagnifolium affects the Soil Nematode Community: Evidence from a Comparative Study

To date, the effects of invasive plants on soil communities and the concomitant interactions thereof have been the subject of ever-growing concern. Solanum elaeagnifolium (S) is a noxious invasive weed originating from south-central America, which has been recognized as a serious threat around the Mediterranean basin and worldwide. Herein, we compared soil nematode communities in the rhizospheres of (S), against those of its native antagonist Cichorium intybus (C), in sites where these two ruderal plants coexist (“species” effect—hereafter “sp”). These sites differed regarding the time after the initial invasion of (S) and were regarded as recently and historically invaded (10 years and 70 years after invasion; “year” effect—hereafter “yr”). Neither “sp” nor “yr” affected total nematode abundance and nematode functional indices. Diversity was lower in (S) and was reduced even more with time after invasion in both plant species. Plant parasites decreased significantly from S–10yr to S–70yr, i.e., over time after invasion, while predators were fewer in (C). Distinct nematode communities in terms of genera structure were formed under the two plant species and these were significantly affected by the time after (S) invasion. Differences between these communities related to loss of genera but also to changes in the abundance of common ones, such as Acrobeloides and Pratylenchus. Our results showed that the responses of the examined soil communities to the invasion of (S) are not straightforward and cannot be easily explained on the basis of existing theories. However, the first-time results furnished herein may be useful to integrated management strategies in the future

Chapter GIS and ex situ Plant Conservation

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