title: Approaches for the cryopreservation of Plantago algarbiensis, a rare endemic species of the Algarve.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Plantago algarbiensis is an endangered endemic species from the Algarve, Portugal.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The main goal of this study was to investigate the viability of cryopreservation procedures in the conservation of seeds and nodal explants from this species.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seeds were directly immersed in liquid nitrogen (LN) for 30 days. Two methods were tested for the cryopreservation of nodal explants, namely droplet-vitrification and encapsulation-dehydration. For both methods, nodal segments were precultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium and recovered on MS supplemented with 0.2 mg l(-1) 6-benzyladenine (BA), after freezing.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After 30 days in LN, the germination capacity of seeds was not affected. The regrowth percentages of cryopreserved nodal segments were approximately 60%. With the droplet-vitrification method, a regrowth percentage of 60.0+/-15.2% was obtained after 120 min exposure to PVS2 (plant vitrification solution 2) and with encapsulation-dehydration method the highest percentage, 63.3+/-9.6%, was achieved after 3 h desiccation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Seed cryopreservation and cryopreservation of nodal segments by droplet-vitrification and encapsulation-dehydration are therefore effective approaches for the conservation of P. algarbiensis.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Sciences and Technology, MeditBio, University of Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, Faro, Portugal.
authors.forename: Natacha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Coelho
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biologia Vegetal, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: María Elena
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: González-Benito
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Sciences and Technology, MeditBio, University of Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, Faro, Portugal. aromano@ualg.pt.
authors.forename: Anabela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Romano
mesh_terms: D001593:Benzyl Compounds; D015925:Cryopreservation / Q000379:methods*; D003451:Cryoprotective Agents / Q000378:metabolism; D003890:Desiccation / Q000379:methods; D018525:Germination; D007701:Kinetin / Q000378:metabolism; D018520:Plant Shoots / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology; D010943:Plantago / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D011687:Purines; D012639:Seeds / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology; D058989:Vitrification
chemical_list: D001593:Benzyl Compounds; D003451:Cryoprotective Agents; D011687:Purines; C480551:benzylaminopurine; D007701:Kinetin