Ex-situ Conservation of the Micro and Macro Flora of Omayed Biosphere Reserve (OBR): A Survey Report

Omayed Biosphere Reserve is the only Biosphere on the northwestern coast of Egypt, representing the Mediterranean ecosystem type. It has characteristic Fauna and Flora as it comprises 12% and 17% of Egypt's flora and bryoflora, respectively, besides numbers of endemic and endangered animals. In the past decade, OBR was subjected to extensive human activities –the building of coastal touristic villages, irrigation canals, plantation, and some military construction – resulted in a massive decrease in its flora from 253 to 145 taxa and an increase in the number of invasive plants. The present study was aimed to survey the micro and macroflora of OBR. The results indicated the record of three new invasive flowering plants – Herniaria hemistemon, Reseda decursiva and Trigonella corniculata –the record of Barbula unguiculata Hedw. and Fissidens arnoldenii R. Ruthe for the first time from the Mariotic sector of Egypt. The survey for the microflora was performed via metagenomic analysis, which revealed that 72 identified fungal species belonging to 10 Phyla; 24 classes; 42 orders; 72 families and 72 genera), 257 identified bacterial/archaea species belong to 2 kingdoms; 51 phyla; 61 classes; 119 orders; 221 families and 490 genera were identified from the plant rhizosphere. Based on the KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) pathway annotations, the highest number of bacterial species was counted for membrane transport pathways, carbohydrates, and amino acid metabolism, which reflect the abundance of symbiotic and beneficial microbiota. The most abundant fungi found associated in the plant rhizosphere was mostly the pathotroph-symbiotrophes.