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Title: Cryopreservation of dormant vegetative buds of tart and sweet cherry in liquid nitrogen

Author
item KOVALCHUK, IRINA - Institute Of Plant Biology And Biotechnology
item TURDIEV, TIMUR - Institute Of Plant Biology And Biotechnology
item FROVLOW, SERGEY - Institute Of Plant Biology And Biotechnology
item MADIYEVA, G. - Institute Of Plant Biology And Biotechnology
item Reed, Barbara

Submitted to: International Society of Horticultural Science Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/5/2013
Publication Date: 8/10/2013
Citation: Kovalchuk, I., Turdiev, T., Frovlow, S., Madiyeva, G., Reed, B.M. 2013. Cryopreservation of dormant vegetative buds of tart and sweet cherry in liquid nitrogen. International Society of Horticultural Science Proceedings. Pg. 101.

Interpretive Summary: Field collections of clonally propagated fruit crops such as tart and sweet cherry are vulnerable to damage by pests, diseases and environmental stresses and are expensive to maintain. There is a need in Kazakhstan to create backup collections of plants to guarantee germplasm preservation. Cryopreservation of dormant buds in liquid nitrogen could be used as a long-term backup for traditional methods of genetic resources preservation and reduce the need for additional field collections. This study examined the effect of cold temperatures, moisture content and chemical protectants on the viability of dormant buds after cryopreservation. All buds with the natural moisture content died after liquid nitrogen exposure. In contrast, buds with reduced moisture content had 66-100% recovery. Low moisture buds cooled slowly before liquid nitrogen exposure all survied. Buds with natural moisture contents of 45 - 49% survived cryopreservation when treated with some chemical compounds or with honey. Storage of the cherry germplasm collection was established at the Kazakhstan genebank with 42 cultivars of tart cherries and 58 of sweet cherries.

Technical Abstract: Field collections of clonally propagated fruit crops such as tart and sweet cherry are vulnerable to damage by pests, diseases and environmental stresses and are expensive to maintain. There is a need in Kazakhstan to create backup collections of plants to guarantee germplasm preservation. Cryopreservation of dormant buds in liquid nitrogen could be used as a long-term backup for traditional methods of genetic resources preservation and reduce the need for additional field collections. This study examined the effect of cold acclimation, moisture content and cryoprotectants on the viability of dormant buds after cryopreservation. Acclimatized and non-acclimatized buds at the natural moisture content or dehydrated to 30% moisture content were cooled from -5°C to -25°C and exposed to liquid nitrogen. All natural moisture content buds, both acclimatized and non-acclimatized, died after liquid nitrogen exposure. In contrast, post cryopreservation viability of acclimatized 30% moisture content buds was 66-100%. The effect of two freezing rates [1) 3°C in 24 h from -5°C to 25°C (1 week), and 2) 2°C/min to -30°C (6 h in a programmable freezer)] on viability of buds at 30% moisture content was studied. In both cases the viability of buds after liquid nitrogen exposure was 100%. In order to cryopreserve buds with natural moisture contents of 45 - 49%, six cryoprotectant treatments were studied. Effective pretreatments (100% viability) at natural moisture were obtained with PVS2, PGD and honey for tart cherry; and with PVS2, PVS3, PGD, honey + 15% DMSO, or a mixture of 50% glycerol and 50% glucose for sweet cherry. A cryogenic germplasm collection was established at the Kazakhstan genebank using these procedures with 42 cultivars of tart cherries and 58 of sweet cherries.