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In September last year, Chinese researchers successfully collected the seeds of mustard mustard at 6,212 meters in the East Rongbuk Glacier of Mount Everest, setting a new record for the highest altitude of plant seeds collected in my country.
In July this year, the collected seeds of five Mount Everest plants germinated smoothly after being stored in a cold storage at minus 20 degrees Celsius for nearly a year.
This means that my country has successfully collected and preserved the plant seeds with the highest altitude in the world, laying the foundation for future research on related germplasm resources.
At an altitude of 6212 meters, there are continuous snow peaks.
Under Mount Everest, even Liushi Beach is buried by snow all the year round.
Strong wind, extreme cold, lack of oxygen... Can we still find biological traces in this "forbidden zone of life"?
In September 2021, at 6,212 meters on the East Rongbuk Glacier of Mt. The seeds of Mustard mustard set a new record for the highest altitude of plant seed collection in my country.
After being stored in a cold storage at minus 20 degrees Celsius for nearly a year, the researchers decided to conduct a germination experiment on the seeds.
Can mustard mustard be reawakened to become the world's highest-altitude plant seed successfully preserved?
6212 meters collection, breaking the highest altitude record for plant seed collection in my country
Finding seeds requires patience and courage.
Sometimes, it takes a little luck too.
On September 24, 2021, Guo Yongjie and Zhao Yanhui, a group of eight members of the gene bank collection team, climbed Mount Everest again, challenging the highest altitude record for plant seed collection in my country.
At the end of September, it is already considered to be getting cooler in autumn, but for Everest plants, it is the best phenological period for collecting seeds.
Previously, there were 15 species of plants collected at altitudes above 6,100 meters that were publicly available around the world, most of which were collected by foreign scholars.
The collection team not only had to find plants, but also collected mature seeds, which greatly escalated the difficulty.
The destination of this trip is the flowstone beach of the East Rongbuk Glacier on Mount Everest.
Between the stone crevices is the most promising area to find plants.
Starting from the transitional camp at an altitude of 5,800 meters, heavy snowflakes blurred the ice cracks under their feet, and every step of climbing Mount Everest, the collection team needs to be extra cautious.
When climbing to an altitude of about 6,200 meters, several hours had passed since the collection team set off.
The accompanying guide hummed the ancient local songs softly, while the collection team members leaned over to search carefully.
"Sumi fan leaf mustard!" Guo Yongjie recognized this camouflaged plant in the crevice of the gravel at a glance, half kneeling and half lying down to take pictures of Sumi fan leaf mustard from various angles, and carefully recorded the altitude of the collection place, etc. Location information - 6212 meters above sea level, this is the first plant that the collection team saw at an altitude above 6000 meters.
What made Guo Yongjie even more happy was that part of the siliques of this mustard mustard had split, which also meant that the collectors had the opportunity to collect the seeds of this plant.
At this moment, Mount Everest happened to reveal its true face in the distance. Guo Yongjie couldn't help but gently lifted the plant in his hand. The small and fragile branches and leaves swayed in the wind, facing the towering snow-capped mountains in the distance.
Mount Everest is awe-inspiring, but the tenacity of life is not inferior to Mount Everest.
In the end, the collection team explored and reached the 6,605-meter-high point of Mount Everest, but unfortunately no trace of plants was found.
The mustard mustard seeds collected this time set a new record for the highest altitude of plant seeds collected in my country.
Stored at minus 20 degrees Celsius, the seeds can survive for decades or even thousands of years
In fact, in August 2021, the gene bank launched the action plan for collecting the seeds of the world's highest altitude plants. In September of that year, it was the second time for researchers to go to Mount Everest.
As a national strategic biological resource, the collected Mount Everest plant seeds were quickly sent to the gene bank in Kunming.
According to the standards of the gene bank, a complete seed sample needs at least 2,500 seeds, and about 10,000 seeds is the best.
However, the plant seeds in the high-altitude areas of Mount Everest are extremely scarce, and they cannot meet the basic requirement of 2,500 seeds at all, so we can only collect and preserve as many as possible.
Every seed is very precious and must be stored and handled with greater care.
"Seed collection time, location, latitude and longitude, altitude, species information, initial seed quality, quantity and other information must be entered into the database in a timely and accurate manner, so that it can be used in future research and ecological restoration." The seed management team of the gene bank preservation center Team leader Qin Shaofa said.
Qin Shaofa led the team and put the counted and weighed seeds of mustard mustard and snow rabbit into the main drying room.
After being stored in an environment with a temperature of 15 degrees Celsius and an air humidity of 15% for one month, the water content of the seeds dropped to about 5%.
In a low temperature and dry state, the precious seeds of plants such as mustard mustard and snow rabbit have entered the "dormant period", and then they were sealed and sent to cold storage for long-term storage.
"Under constant temperature conditions of minus 20 degrees Celsius, these seeds are expected to survive for decades or even thousands of years." Qin Shaofa said.
"The germplasm resources on Mount Everest are very unique, and the genes contained in them are very rare. It is precisely because of their rarity that we need to overcome difficulties and give priority to collecting and preserving them." Cai Jie, director of the gene bank preservation center, introduced.
In addition, within the altitude range of 3,700 meters to 4,700 meters, the collection team also collected more than 40 kinds of wild plant seeds, all of which have been stored in storage.
"As a national strategic biological resource, the collection and preservation of seeds in the Mount Everest region will help protect species and genetic diversity in the Mount Everest region, and at the same time provide raw materials for future research and utilization of related germplasm resources," Cai Jie said.
Seeds of 5 kinds of wild plants in the Mount Everest area all germinated smoothly
In July this year, after nearly 10 months of low-temperature preservation of the seeds of five species of wild plants in the Mount Everest region, the seeds of five species of wild plants in the Mount Everest region, namely mustard mustard, snow rabbit, Tibetan seabuckthorn, broken rice fern leaf Artemisia spp. Juan took it out of the cold storage, put it in the drying room to warm up, and carefully put a part of it on the agar medium.
"In order to ensure that the seeds stored in the gene bank are alive, each seed sample will be tested for vitality at regular intervals." Yang Juan said that 10 months after the collection of the seeds of the Everest plants, including the highest altitude seeds Five kinds of "Mount Everest seeds", including mustard mustard, ushered in the first germination experiment.
This experiment is very important.
If the seeds germinate smoothly, it can prove that these wild plant seeds in the Mount Everest area have been effectively preserved.
In fact, some foreign researchers have collected seeds at higher altitudes before, but the seeds failed to germinate after being stored in cold storage for a period of time.
If mustard mustard can germinate smoothly, it means that this is the highest altitude seed successfully preserved in the world.
For the popularization of science, the reporter used a macro camera and time-lapse photography to record the whole process of seed germination.
However, no one dares to guarantee whether the plant seeds from extremely high altitude areas can germinate at an altitude of 1,900 meters after nearly a year of cryopreservation.
In the first two days, except for absorbing water and swelling, the five kinds of seeds hardly moved.
However, what Cai Jie said made the team less worried: "The climate in the Mount Everest area is harsh and changeable. In order to complete the life cycle as soon as possible, the seeds should germinate faster."
Sure enough, from the third day onwards, the radicle ends of many seeds began to change slightly; in the past two days, the radicles of Hippophae rhamnoides first broke through the seed coat and grew downward; The seeds also broke their skins one after another, and the germs and cotyledons slowly stretched out and grew into small seedlings.
In just 9 days, the seeds of 5 kinds of wild plants in the Mount Everest area all germinated smoothly.
In particular, the germination of mustard mustard proves that my country has successfully collected and preserved the plant seeds with the highest altitude in the world.
Not only the seeds of Mount Everest plants, but also tens of thousands of precious germplasm resources are preserved in the gene bank.
Since its operation, the gene bank has preserved 87,863 copies of 10,917 species of wild plants in my country, and 36% of the total number of flowering plant species in my country are backed up here.
A seed, from the moment it is born, conceives the hope of life.
The seeds collected in the Germplasm Bank of Wild Species in Southwest China have undoubtedly brought hope to biodiversity conservation.
"People's Daily" (version 13, December 21, 2022)
Reporter Zhang Fan Yang Wenming Li Maoying