Skip to main content
ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Corvallis, Oregon » National Clonal Germplasm Repository » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #282434

Title: Growth medium alterations improve in vitro cold storage of pear germplasm

Author
item KOVALCHUK, IRINA - Institute Of Plant Biology And Biotechnology
item ZHUMAGULOVA, ZHANGUL - Institute Of Plant Biology And Biotechnology
item TURDIEV, TIMUR - Institute Of Plant Biology And Biotechnology
item Reed, Barbara

Submitted to: CryoLetters
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/4/2014
Publication Date: 6/15/2014
Citation: Kovalchuk, I., Zhumagulova, Z., Turdiev, T., Reed, B.M. 2014. Growth medium alterations improve in vitro cold storage of pear germplasm. CryoLetters. 35:197-203.

Interpretive Summary: Development of new fruit cultivars is dependent on genetic resource collections such as those at the Pomological Garden at the Institute of Horticulture and Viticulture near Almaty, Kazakhstan. The pear germplasm collection of the Pomological Garden contains 615 cultivars and 3 species. About 36 accessions are held as shoot cultures. Cold storage of the shoot culture collection would provide additional security to the field collection. This study was designed to improve storage duration of medium-term tissue culture storage of pear germplasm. Treatments included standard growth medium with three carbohydrate sources with or without growth regulators and three concentrations of nitrogen . On the standard medium pear shoots under cold storage conditions remain viable for 9-15 months. There were significant impacts of cultivar and treatments on the duration of cold storage. Fifteen cultivars of pears in the in vitro collection are currently stored in tissue culture bags on medium with growth regulators at refrigerator temperatures and low light. An additional fourteen samples are stored in the growth room with bright lights .

Technical Abstract: Development of new fruit cultivars is dependent on genetic resource collections such as those at the Pomological Garden at the Institute of Horticulture and Viticulture near Almaty, Kazakhstan. The pear germplasm collection of the Pomological Garden contains 615 cultivars and 3 species. About 36 accessions are held in vitro. Cold storage of the in vitro collection would provide additional security to the field collection. This study was designed to improve storage duration of medium-term in vitro storage of pear germplasm. Shoots of seven pear cultivars (Pyrus communis L.) were stored in plastic five-section bags at 4° C and 10-hour photoperiod (7 µmol m-2s-1). Treatments included MS medium with three carbohydrate sources (3% sucrose, 2% or 3% mannitol, or 2% sucrose + 2% mannitol) in MS medium with or without growth regulators (PGRs) and three concentration of nitrogen (100%, 50% or 25%). Under cold storage conditions on the standard MS medium with 3% sucrose without growth regulators pear shoots remain viable for 9-15 months without repropagation. There were significant impacts of cultivar and treatments on the duration of cold storage. Shoots of ‘Mramornaya’ remained viable (rating of = 2) for 27 months on MS medium with 0.5 BAP and 0.1 IBA and 2% sucrose + 2% mannitol compared to 12 months for the control. Addition of 1 mg / l abscisic acid (ABA) with 3% sucrose increased the duration of storage up to 36 months compared to 18 months for the control. Reducing the concentration of nitrogen in MS medium to 25% without PGRs and with 3% sucrose, increased the storage to 36 months, compared to 18 months for controls. ‘Talgarskaya Krasavitsa’ stored for 18 months on MS medium without growth regulators with 2% sucrose + 2% mannitol or 25% nitrogen, without PGRs and with 3% sucrose. Adding 0.5 mg / l ABA to the medium with 3% sucrose increased the storage up to 21 months. Fifteen cultivars of pears in the in vitro collection are currently stored in tissue culture bags on MS with 0.5 BAP and 0.1 IBA and 3% sucrose at 4°C and 10 hour photoperiod (8 µmol m-2s-1). An additional fourteen samples are stored in the growth room at 23-25°C with 16-hour photoperiod (25-30 µmol m-2s-1).