About this Research Topic
It is estimated that two in five plant species are threatened with extinction globally and researchers are accelerating efforts to conserve the plant diversity for future generations. Conservation and utilization of plant diversity need a complementary approach involving traditional methods (in situ, on-farm conservation, clonal repositories) and modern biotechnological tools. Ex situ conservation of plant germplasm is generally carried out in botanical gardens, seed gene banks, field gene banks and in vitro gene banks. In vitro gene banks utilize tissue culture techniques for medium-term storage for in vitro active gene bank and cryopreservation methods for long-term storage for in vitro base gene bank. Recalcitrant seeded species can only be conserved for long-term using cryo-techniques.
The goal of this Research Topic is to gain a better understanding of cryopreservation of plant species which produce recalcitrant seeds (desiccation sensitive), no adequate seeds for banking, seeds that are short lived in storage and clonally propagated crops that are threatened with imminent extinction. Cryopreservation technique is a superior method of storage of plant tissues (e.g., pollen, seeds, shoot tips, dormant buds etc.) at ultralow temperatures in liquid nitrogen (-196°C). At this temperature, all cellular, metabolic and biochemical events come to a virtual halt, and the plant material can be conserved long-term, without any change or deterioration. Although several cryo-protocols have been developed and reported in varied plant species, their large-scale applicability in gene banks is limited to very few genera. There is still further need for new and improved protocols for realizing the full potential of cryopreservation for conservation of the vast plant diversity.
The scope of this Research Topic encompasses work focus on developing new and improved cryo-protocols for agricultural, horticulture, endangered and overlooked plant species. We are interested in short communication, reviews, and research articles. Potential studies includes but not limited to following:
- bulbous and related crops
- medicinal and aromatic plants
- spices, industrial crops
- temperate and minor fruits
- tropical fruits
- tuber crops
- forestry and agroforestry species
- threatened species
Further, we also invite fundamental studies (physiology, biochemistry, omics etc.) related to changes occurring during the process of plant cryopreservation.
The goal of this Research Topic is to gain a better understanding of cryopreservation of plant species which produce recalcitrant seeds (desiccation sensitive), no adequate seeds for banking, seeds that are short lived in storage and clonally propagated crops that are threatened with imminent extinction. Cryopreservation technique is a superior method of storage of plant tissues (e.g., pollen, seeds, shoot tips, dormant buds etc.) at ultralow temperatures in liquid nitrogen (-196°C). At this temperature, all cellular, metabolic and biochemical events come to a virtual halt, and the plant material can be conserved long-term, without any change or deterioration. Although several cryo-protocols have been developed and reported in varied plant species, their large-scale applicability in gene banks is limited to very few genera. There is still further need for new and improved protocols for realizing the full potential of cryopreservation for conservation of the vast plant diversity.
The scope of this Research Topic encompasses work focus on developing new and improved cryo-protocols for agricultural, horticulture, endangered and overlooked plant species. We are interested in short communication, reviews, and research articles. Potential studies includes but not limited to following:
- bulbous and related crops
- medicinal and aromatic plants
- spices, industrial crops
- temperate and minor fruits
- tropical fruits
- tuber crops
- forestry and agroforestry species
- threatened species
Further, we also invite fundamental studies (physiology, biochemistry, omics etc.) related to changes occurring during the process of plant cryopreservation.
Keywords: clonally propagated crops, ex situ conservation, liquid nitrogen, plant diversity, recalcitrant seeds, vitrification
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