Biodiversity conservation requires advanced and effective ex situ plant propagation techniques. The present study was conducted to optimize the micropropagation of a rare and endangered species of Malus niedzwetzkyana. The objective was the ex situ conservation and reintroduction, via micropropagation, of this species. Further, we aimed to obtain healthy planting material on a large-scale for commercial implementation. To study shoot multiplication, we examined the effects of three cytokinins (6-benzylaminopurine, kinetin, and thidiazuron) supplemented to Quoirin–Lepoivre (QL) culture medium. To examine the rooting of the shoots, we tested the effects of the macronutrient concentration of the QL medium (at 1×, 0.5×, and 0.25× concentration), and of its sucrose content (0%, 10%, 20%, and 30%). The optimized micropropagation technology provided a high propagation rate (28.77 new shoots per explant) on QL medium supplemented with 0.5 mg L⁻¹ 6-benzylaminopurine and 0.01 mg L⁻¹ indole-3-butyric acid (IBA). All shoots developed roots on 0.5× QL media with the addition of 10 mg L⁻¹ sucrose and 1.5 mg L⁻¹ IBA, producing a mean of 11.8 roots per explant. Using nine pairs of simple sequence repeat primers, no somaclonal variation was detected among the plantlets produced using the 13 treatments. Thus, the proposed technology makes it possible to preserve and reproduce the valuable genetic material of the M. niedzwetzkyana in the laboratory and natural conditions. This study demonstrates how biotechnology can be effectively used as an ex situ conservation strategy for this endangered species.

保护生物多样性需要先进和有效的非原生境植物繁殖技术。本研究进行了优化稀有和濒危的海棠（Malus niedzwetzkyana）的微繁殖。其目的是在异地保存和再引进，通过该物种的微繁殖。此外，我们旨在大规模获取健康的种植材料以用于商业实施。为了研究芽的繁殖，我们研究了补充Quoirin-Lepoivre（QL）培养基的三种细胞分裂素（6-苄基氨基嘌呤，激动素和噻唑酮）的作用。为了检查芽的生根，我们测试了QL培养基（1×，0.5×和0.25×浓度）的常量营养素浓度及其蔗糖含量（0％，10％，20％和30％）。优化的微繁技术在补充了0.5 mg L ^-1的6-苄基氨基嘌呤和0.01 mg L ^-1的QL培养基上提供了高繁殖速率（每个外植体有28.77个新芽）。吲哚-3-丁酸（IBA）。所有芽均在0.5×QL培养基上形成根，并添加10 mg L ^-1蔗糖和1.5 mg L ^-1 IBA，平均每个植株有11.8个根。使用9对简单的序列重复引物，在使用13种处理方法产生的小植株之间未检测到体细胞克隆变异。因此，所提出的技术使得有可能在实验室和自然条件下保存和繁殖白僵菌的有价值的遗传物质。这项研究表明，如何有效地利用生物技术作为这一濒危物种的非原生境保护战略。