USE OF THERMAL-ANALYSIS IN THE EVALUATION OF CRYOPRESERVATION PROTOCOLS FOR RIBES-NIGRUM L GERMPLASM

Shoot-tips of Ribes nigrum cultivars 'Ben Tron' and 'Ben More' were ca pable of surviving and regenerating new shoots following cryopreservat ion. Recovery responses were significantly enhanced when vitrification methods of cryopreservation were used. Differential scanning calorime try revealed that vitrification phenomena were reproducible and that i t was possible to stabilise the glassy state on rewarming. The potenti al for Ribes germplasm cryopreservation to be utilised in large scale conservation initiatives is evaluated in this study.