Medium-term in vitro storage of pear as a complementary germplasm preservation technique

Germplasm preservation of vegetatively propagated crops may be accomplished using a range of old and new technologies.
Field collections, potted plants, or in some cases whole plants stored under cool to cold conditions are complemented by in vitro culture, in vitro storage, and cryopreservation.
The use of complementary storage techniques is important for successful germplasm preservation and in vitro storage is one important technique for germplasm in an active genebank.
In vitro cultures of temperate plants are routinely stored at -1 to 5°C for as long as 4 years without subculture.
Sub-tropical and tropical plants can be held at sub-normal temperatures (15-18°C) for long periods as well.
This storage form is important for active collections and provides a readily accessible form of germplasm for distribution to the user community.
Medium-term storage is highly successful for Pyrus germplasm for a wide range of species and cultivars.
Many factors influence the duration of cold-storage for pears and other temperate crops.
The most important factor is to store healthy disease-free shoots that are growing well in culture.
Healthy plants on the correct multiplication and storage media, stored in the correct container by a skilled technician will remain in 4°C storage for 2 to 4 years and greatly reduce the labor and materials needed to maintain an in vitro germplasm collection.

XXIX International Horticultural Congress on Horticulture: Sustaining Lives, Livelihoods and Landscapes (IHC2014): International Symposium on Micropropagation and In Vitro Techniques

B.M. Reed, J. DeNoma

cold acclimation, cold storage, genetic diversity, micropropagation, Pyrus

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2016.1113.37