title: Cryopreservation of sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) and its pathogen eradication by cryotherapy.
abstract: Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) ranks as the seventh most important staple crop in the world and the fifth in developing countries after rice, wheat, maize and cassava. Sweetpotato is mainly grown in developing countries, which account for more than 95% of total production of the whole world. Genetic resources, including cultivated varieties and wild species, are a prerequisite for novel sweetpotato breeding in both conventional and genetic engineering programs. Various cryopreservation protocols have been developed for shoot tips and embryogenic tissues. The former explants are preferred for long-term conservation of sweetpotato genetic resources, while the latter are valuable for sweetpotato genetic improvement. This review provides update comprehensive information on cryopreservation of sweetpotato shoot tips and embryogenic tissues. Plant pathogens such as viruses and phytoplasma severely hamper high yield and high quality production of sweetpotato. Thus, usage of pathogen-free planting materials is pivotal for sustainable sweetpotato production. Cryotherapy of shoot tips can efficiently eradicate sweetpotato pathogens such as viruses and phytoplasma. The mechanism behind pathogen eradication by cryotherapy of shoot tips has been elucidated. Pathogen eradication by cryotherapy provides an alternative, efficient strategy for production of pathogen-free plants. In addition, cryopreserved tissues may also be considered to be safer for exchange of germplasm between countries and regions.
authors.affiliation: Plant Cryobiology Laboratory, College of Horticulture, Agricultural & Forest University, Yangling 712100, Shaanxi, PR China.
authors.forename: Chaohong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Zhenfang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Yanli
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Zhibo
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Long
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Biao
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Baiquan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yushen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Qiaochun
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D003080:Cold Temperature; D015925:Cryopreservation / Q000379:methods*; D017679:Cryotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D027723:Ipomoea batatas / Q000196:embryology / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000821:virology*; D045582:Phytoplasma / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology / Q000628:therapy* / Q000821:virology; D018520:Plant Shoots / Q000502:physiology; D010942:Plant Viruses / Q000302:isolation & purification