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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Corvallis, Oregon » National Clonal Germplasm Repository » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #218511
Title: Cryopreservation of In-Vitro Grown Blueberry and Cranberry Shoot Tips

Author
item UCHENDU, ESTHER - OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
item Reed, Barbara

Submitted to: Acta Horticulturae
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/15/2008
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Three blueberry cultivars; Berkeley, O’Neal and Brigitta and two cranberry cultivars; Wilcox and Franklin, from the tissue culture collections of the USDA-ARS National Clonal Germplasm Repository (NCGR), Corvallis were tested for recovery following cryopreservation, storage in liquid nitrogen (-320°F). Three standard protocols were used: controlled rate cooling (CC) (slowly cooled to -40°C then plunged in liquid nitrogen), encapsulation dehydration (ED) (enclosed in a gel bead, dried, then plunged in liquid nitrogen), and PVS2 vitrification (VIT) (treated with antifreeze solutions and plunged in liquid nitrogen). Results show that the blueberry cultivars had 83% – 92% regrowth with the ED technique. Recovery following the VIT and CC varied from 33 – 87% for the VIT and 50 – 67% for CC. The cranberry cultivars had poor (5 to 37%) recovery with all three techniques. The blueberry cultivars were successfully cryopreserved using all of the techniques while the cranberry cultivars required further testing. The cold hardiness of the shoots was determined to compare with the results of the cryopreservation experiments.

Technical Abstract: In-vitro grown shoot tips of two cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon Aiton) cultivars, Wilcox (VAC 1299.001) and Franklin (VAC 743.001) and three blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) cultivars, Berkeley (VAC 849.001), O’Neal (VAC 312.001) and Brigitta (VAC 1312.001) from the tissue culture collections of the USDA-ARS National Clonal Germplasm Repository (NCGR), Corvallis were tested for recovery from cryopreservation using three protocols. Initial screening for recovery followed two weeks of alternating-temperature cold acclimation. The three blueberry cultivars had 83 to 92% regrowth with the encapsulation-dehydration technique (ED). The PVS2-vitrification (VIT) and controlled rate cooling (CC) varied in success depending on the cultivar and ranged from 33% to 87% for VIT and 50 to 67% for CC. The cranberry cultivars had poor (5 to 37%) recovery with all three techniques. The blueberry cultivars were successfully cryopreserved using all of the techniques while the cranberry cultivars were further tested to improve their response to cryopreservation. The cold hardiness (LT50) of shoots was determined to compare with the results of the cryopreservation experiments.