Anatomical changes and cytogenetic stability in bird of paradise plants after zygotic embryo cryopreservation by desiccation method

Abstract

Bird of paradise (Strelitzia reginae Aiton.) is an ornamental plant of great economic value; however, the floricultural market is shaped by trends that vary throughout seasons and years. Thus, conservation techniques, such as cryopreservation, may be used for species and cultivar maintenance. It is important to understand the effect of low temperature used for cooling on the genetic stability and anatomical aspects of conserved species. The objective of this study was to evaluate the occurrence of anatomical changes and the maintenance of the cytogenetic stability of plants recovered from cryopreserved bird of paradise zygotic embryos. Zygotic embryos were cryopreserved in liquid nitrogen (+LN) after being dehydrated for 0, 30, and 60 min using silica gel (moisture content 16.79, 11.38, and 11.49%, respectively). Considering the dehydration duration, seedling development was higher (66.13%) in embryos that were cryopreserved after 30-min dehydration period, with no differences in the survival percentage during acclimatization, no anatomical changes in photosynthetic tissues, and no changes in the cytogenetic stability of the plants verified by flow cytometry. Thus, it is concluded that it is possible to cryopreserve bird of paradise zygotic embryos without changing the anatomy or genetic stability of the plants.