Approaches for the cryopreservation of Plantago algarbiensis, a rare endemic species of the Algarve.

Cryo Letters. 2014 Nov-Dec;35(6):521-9.

Coelho N¹, González-Benito ME², Romano A³.

Author information

• ¹Faculty of Sciences and Technology, MeditBio, University of Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, Faro, Portugal.
• ²Departamento de Biologia Vegetal, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria, Madrid, Spain.
• ³Faculty of Sciences and Technology, MeditBio, University of Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, Faro, Portugal. aromano@ualg.pt.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Plantago algarbiensis is an endangered endemic species from the Algarve, Portugal.

OBJECTIVE:

The main goal of this study was to investigate the viability of cryopreservation procedures in the conservation of seeds and nodal explants from this species.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Seeds were directly immersed in liquid nitrogen (LN) for 30 days. Two methods were tested for the cryopreservation of nodal explants, namely droplet-vitrification and encapsulation-dehydration. For both methods, nodal segments were precultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium and recovered on MS supplemented with 0.2 mg l(-1) 6-benzyladenine (BA), after freezing.

RESULTS:

After 30 days in LN, the germination capacity of seeds was not affected. The regrowth percentages of cryopreserved nodal segments were approximately 60%. With the droplet-vitrification method, a regrowth percentage of 60.0+/-15.2% was obtained after 120 min exposure to PVS2 (plant vitrification solution 2) and with encapsulation-dehydration method the highest percentage, 63.3+/-9.6%, was achieved after 3 h desiccation.

CONCLUSION:

Seed cryopreservation and cryopreservation of nodal segments by droplet-vitrification and encapsulation-dehydration are therefore effective approaches for the conservation of P. algarbiensis.