A holistic approach to resurrection plants. Haberlea rhodopensis - A case study

Abstract

Recent environmental changes challenge world agriculture and reconfirm the importance of wild flora as useful source of valuable traits. Due to their extreme desiccation tolerance, the so called "Resurrection plants" are extensively studied and characterized. The Bulgarian endemic species Haberlea rhodopensis, apart from its typical resurrection capacity is very interesting also as a potential source of bioactive compounds with putative application in pharmacology, veterinary medicine and cosmetics. Here we discuss our approaches to Haberlea in the frames of the NSF funded project DO02-105 "Centre for sustainable development of plant and animal genomics".