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ARS Home » Plains Area » Fort Collins, Colorado » Center for Agricultural Resources Research » Agricultural Genetic Resources Preservation Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #416448
Research Project: Curation and Research to Safeguard and Expand Collections of Plant and Microbial Genetic Resources and Associated Descriptive Information

Location: Agricultural Genetic Resources Preservation Research

Title: Evaluating shoot-tip regrowth of 25 Rubus L. species and hybrids after 15 to 20 years of cryopreserved storage

Author
item Jenderek, Maria
item Ambruzs, Barbara - Bobbie Ambruzs
item Yeater, Kathleen
item REED, BARBARA

Submitted to: Cryobiology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/28/2024
Publication Date: 11/20/2024
Citation: Jenderek, M.M., Ambruzs, B.D., Yeater, K.M., Reed, B.M. 2024. Evaluating shoot-tip regrowth of 25 Rubus L. species and hybrids after 15 to 20 years of cryopreserved storage. Cryobiology. 118. Article e105159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cryobiol.2024.105159.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cryobiol.2024.105159

Interpretive Summary: Raspberry and blackberry are grown throughout the world and their fruit is collectively called brambles. The fruit is used for food and pharmaceutical purposes. The USDA, ARS maintains a field and screenhouse collection in Corvallis, OR and a secure long-term storage for use by future generations is done in liquid nitrogen in Fort Collins, CO. Material preserved in liquid nitrogen (cryopreserved) is viable for several decades, often hundreds of years but its viability has to be tested periodically to avoid loses. We tested viability of selected brambles after 15 to 20 years of storage liquid nitrogen. Except for one accession, the material was viable between 40-100%. This information is important to plant curators to determine re-propagation intervals to keep the material alive.

Technical Abstract: Rubus L. species are pan-global in their distribution and used as food throughout the world. Their fruits, collectively called brambles, come in a variety of colors from black, through various shades of red and yellow to white. The USDA-ARS, National Plant Germplasm System maintains >2250 accession seed- and screenhouse-based Rubus collection in Corvallis, OR and the USDA-ARS, National Laboratory for Genetic Resources Preservation in Fort Collins, CO cryopreserved and maintains 200 accessions in liquid nitrogen (LN). We investigated regrowth of 25 selected Rubus accessions cryopreserved by droplet vitrification and stored cryogenically for 15 to 20 years, to determine the need for possible repropagation and reprocessing. The initial regrowth of the stored accessions after 24 h in LN ranged from 50 to 100%. After long-term LN storage, overall regrowth was significantly lower than the initial regrowth. However, except for one accession with recovery of 23% (R. laciniatus PI 553651), the regrowth of the other 24 accessions ranged from 40 to 100%, with 16 accessions at >73% regrowth. High initial viability was important for recovering large numbers of living shoots after long-term storage. Extending regrowth of five accessions from six to 12 wk did not significantly increase the regrowth, suggesting that a six-wk cultivation is sufficient for regrowth assessment. Knowledge of changes in viability over time in cryopreserved collections is vital information for curators to determine what repropagation intervals are needed for specific germplasm collections. These studies also provide large-scale information on changes that might be needed in the cryopreservation protocol for the next storage cycle.