CRYOPRESERVATION OF IN VITRO-GROWN APICAL MERISTEMS OF HYBRID STATICEBY 3 DIFFERENT PROCEDURES

In vitro-grown apical meristems of hybrid statice (Limonium cv. Blue S ymphonet) were cryopreserved by three cryogenic procedures; (1) vitrif ication with encapsulation, (2) vitrification without encapsulation, a nd (3) a revised encapsulation/dehydration technique. When dehydration tolerance was well developed by preconditioning and cryogenic procedu res were well optimized, these three procedures produced nearly the sa me levels of growth recovery (70-75%). These results support our theor y that the acquisition of dehydration tolerance is sufficient for spec imens to survive to cryopreservation. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. A ll rights reserved.