Skip to main content
ARS Home » Plains Area » Fort Collins, Colorado » Center for Agricultural Resources Research » Agricultural Genetic Resources Preservation Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #428090
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: Pollen cryobanking at the USDA-ARS National Laboratory for Genetic Resources Preservation

Author
item Volk, Gayle
item Shepherd, Ashley
item Henk, Adam
item Grauke, Larry
item Kubenka, Keith
item Debuse, Carolyn
item Smith, Jenny
item Krueger, Robert
item Harmel, Robert

Submitted to: Crop Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/15/2025
Publication Date: 1/26/2026
Citation: Volk, G.M., Shepherd, A.N., Henk, A.D., Grauke, L.J., Kubenka, K.A., DeBuse, C.J., Smith, J.L., Krueger, R., Harmel, R.D. 2026. Pollen cryobanking at the USDA-ARS National Laboratory for Genetic Resources Preservation. Crop Science. 66(1). Article e70231. https://doi.org/10.1002/csc2.70231.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/csc2.70231

Interpretive Summary: The USDA-ARS National Laboratory for Genetic Resources Preservation (NLGRP) has developed a pollen cryobank to conserve desiccation-tolerant pollen of six crops within the USDA National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS): Carya (pecan), Corylus (hazelnut), Juglans (walnut), Phoenix (date), Pistacia (pistachio), and Prunus (stone fruits). Cryopreserved pollen serves as a back-up for some NPGS collections that can not currently be backed up using other propagule types such as seeds, dormant buds, or shoot tips. Pollen samples from the selected genera are collected from locations in the NPGS and sent to NLGRP for processing and long-term storage. After field collection and air-drying, the pollen is sifted and sent to NLGRP for moisture adjustment, viability assessment, and long-term storage in the vapor phase of liquid nitrogen. Currently, 235 NPGS accessions have been cryopreserved as pollen. A subset of cryopreserved pollen inventories was warmed and assessed for viability, as measured by in vitro germination, in 2025. The results indicate that overall, the viability of the cryopreserved inventories has not changed during cryostorage.

Technical Abstract: The USDA-ARS National Laboratory for Genetic Resources Preservation (NLGRP) has developed a pollen cryobank to conserve desiccation-tolerant pollen of six crops within the USDA National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS): Carya (pecan), Corylus (hazelnut), Juglans (walnut), Phoenix (date), Pistacia (pistachio), and Prunus (stone fruits). Pollen samples from these genera are collected in NPGS collection fields, air-dried, sifted, and sent to NLGRP for moisture adjustment, viability assessment, and long-term storage in the vapor phase of liquid nitrogen. Currently, 235 NPGS accessions have been cryopreserved as pollen. A subset of cryopreserved pollen inventories was warmed and assessed for viability, as measured by in vitro germination, in 2025. The results indicate that overall, the viability of the cryopreserved inventories has not changed during cryostorage.