title: Survival of mint shoot tips after exposure to cryoprotectant solution components.
abstract: Many plant species can be cryopreserved by treating shoot tips with complex cryoprotectant solutions before rapidly cooling them to liquid nitrogen temperatures. Plant vitrification solution 2 (PVS2), a commonly selected cryoprotectant, can be lethal with extended exposure times. To determine potentially toxic combinations, we have exposed mint shoot tips to one-, two-, three-, and four-component solutions of PVS2 chemicals (30% glycerol, 15% ethylene glycol, 15% dimethyl sulfoxide, and 0.4 M sucrose) at 0 and 22 degrees C. Overall, solution exposures at 22 degrees C were more damaging than exposures at 0 degree C. Solutions with glycerol, particularly in combination with ethylene glycol and dimethyl sulfoxide, were also damaging. Cryoprotectant solutions PGluD (10% PEG8000, 10% glucose, and 10% dimethyl sulfoxide) and PVS3 (50% glycerol, 50% sucrose) were less damaging than PVS2 at 22 degrees C. When plant cryoprotectants are characterized on a toxicological and biophysical basis, less damaging cryoprotectant solutions could be developed.
authors.affiliation: National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation, United States Department of Agriculture, Ft. Collins, CO 80521, USA. gvolk@lamar.colostate.edu
authors.forename: Gayle M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Volk
authors.forename: Jackie L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: Kate E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Rotindo
mesh_terms: D015925:Cryopreservation; D003451:Cryoprotective Agents; D027541:Mentha; D018520:Plant Shoots; D014022:Tissue Survival
chemical_list: D003451:Cryoprotective Agents