Biotechnology on arrow cane (<em>Gynerium sagittatum</em>Aubl.). A plant of cultural interest.

Abstract

Arrow cane (Gynerium sagittatum Aubl.) is a Poaceae associated to human development of the ancient Zenú culture present nowadays in the flat lands of Córdoba and Sucre department in the Colombian north Coast. Despite its importance, arrow cane is not cultivated in large scale and extraction from natural populations is the most common way for plant exploitation with negative environmental and economic consequences for the aboriginal communities. A research program based on biotechnology was implemented to generate information related to plant genetic diversity, plant propagation and genetic resource conservation in order to provide knowledge to contribute to implement technical crop development to minimize the impact of artisans´ activity on the environment and increase sustainability on fiber source for craftsmanship. Accessions from different zones of the Colombian territory were characterized using morphological and molecular markers founding low genetic diversity. Cultivars UC121, “Criolla”, “Criolla 1”, Costera and “Martinera” were in vitro established and micropropagation results indicated that large quantities of high quality, fully adapted, homogeneous plants can be produced from any cultivar. In vitro cultured arrow cane plants can be stored by means of slow growth or modified structures such as micro rhizomes developed in vitro.