Population assessment, domestication of Sinopodophyllum hexandrum (Royle) Ying - A threatened species in the high altitudes of Himachal Pradesh, India

Over the global ecosystem, a rapid increase in species rarity has been experienced in recent years. Monitoring, population assessment, and conservation of the most threatened plant species are done by various organizations. The Sinopodophyllum hexandrum (Royle) Ying is one of the most important threatened species, requiring its global demand for anti-cancerous, antitumor properties. It grows in only a few habitats and ex-situ conservation using dormant seeds or limited rootstocks is a less explored approach that we attempted. Present work mainly focuses on assessing the wild populations for its distribution, and ex-situ conservation of variable germplasms (16 populations) with provenance trials in the Indian cold desert region. The study provided us information about the morpho-biochemical variations between wild versus conserved populations and within conserved populations. Based on superior physical and chemical characteristics, elite germplasms were identified. Maximum positive morphological growth variations were recorded in the Tindi and Jalori populations after studying conserved populations over the wild. Based on the higher content of podophyllotoxin, superior populations from Kardang, Thanadi, and Kugti populations were also identified. On a dry weight basis, the podophyllotoxin content ranged between 0.287% to 2.52% for conserved populations.