Germplasm collection, in vitro clonal propagation, seed viability and vulnerability of ancient peruvian cotton (Gossypium barbadense l.)

Gossypium barbadense, known as ‘native cotton’, ‘brown cotton’, ‘algodón del país’, ‘Sea Island’, ‘Egyptian o extra-long staple cotton’ is probably originated from west Peruvian Andes. G. barbadense has been used since ancient times by the ancient habitants of pre-Columbian civilizations. The objective of the work was the collection of germplasm, study the In vitro clonal propagation and the viability of seeds, as well as the vulnerability of the species. The germplasm collection was carried out in several locations in the Lambayeque region and around the Piura, Cajamarca, and La Libertad regions. The fieldwork approximately added 160 accessions and various fiber colors. Cotyledonary nodes were isolated from seven days old In vitro germinated seeds and grown in MS culture medium supplemented with 2.0 mg/L AgNO3, formulation where the seedlings reached 12 months of conservation with minimal vitrification and browning of the culture medium. Tests were carried out on the viability of the seed, reaching average germination rates between 50 and 70% in seeds collected no greater than one year, so it is possible to consider them as recalcitrant seeds. Surveys conducted in Morrope, a locality with very ancestral customs, determined a dramatic decrease in the percentage of women weavers with a waist loom of 63% (great-grandmothers and grandmothers, over 40 years of age) to 33% (mothers and aunts, among 20 to 40 years of age) and 8% (sisters, under 20 years of age). The vulnerability of the species would be related to the loss of colors and fiber tones and in the ethnobotanical aspect with the loss of the ancestral tradition in the use of the waist loom.