The Germplasm Bank of the University of Catania hosted, from 11 to 15 September 2023, in its laboratories, the staff of the Ministry for Gozo involved in the SiMaSeed PLUS project, for a training course on germplasm conservation techniques. Participants learned the experimental protocols for characterizing the germination behaviour of wild species, simulating different environmental conditions in growth chambers and using different culture substrates (filter paper for germination tests, agar), with the addition of phytohormones (gibberellins) to test the level of seed dormancy. Furthermore, they experimented with different techniques for cleaning and characterizing seed collections. The laboratory activities were completed by an excursion to Etna, aimed at documenting the germplasm collection protocols.
