Abstract
Plant cryobiology has primarily emerged from the classical fields of cryobiology and plant stress physiology. Cryopreservation tools are now available to geneticists for germplasm preservation and the field itself is advancing significantly through the use of molecular techniques. Long-term preservation of vegetatively propagated tissues can minimize the risks of long-term maintenance under tissue culture or field conditions. Cells can be successfully cryopreserved when the adverse affects of ice crystal formation are mitigated by the removal of water or procedures to limit ice formation and crystal growth. The addition of cryoprotectant solutions to hydrated cells may improve the survival of microdissected shoot tips or embryonic axes. Recent discoveries in the genetic pathways leading to cold acclimation and freezing tolerance suggest the involvement of key cold-regulated genes in the acquisition of cold tolerance in plant tissues. Model systems of banana and Arabidopsis have revealed the involvement of genes and proteins in the glycolytic and other metabolic pathways, particularly processes involved in dehydration tolerance, osmoprotection, and membrane transport. Furthermore, successful recovery appears to be dependent upon the presence of antioxidant protection from reactive oxygen species. Characterization of specific genes and proteins will lead to significant advances in plant cryobiology research.
Highlights
The field of plant cryobiology seeks to understand the physiological and molecular processes that allow plants to survive low temperatures
Dehydrins are a class of LEA proteins that are induced by abscisic acid (ABA) and are suggested to inhibit the denaturation of macromolecules (e.g. [35])
ERD1 is another key gene involved in the ABA independent stress-response
Summary
The field of plant cryobiology seeks to understand the physiological and molecular processes that allow plants to survive low temperatures. Phenotypic variation may result from other procedures, such as tissue culture, that are often used in cryopreservation methods [17] Both dehydration and low temperature affect water relations within the cell. Cells must have intact membranes and stable proteins to tolerate the desiccation and cold stresses. Lipoproteins and ERD14 (Early Response to Dehydration protein 14) increase during cold acclimation and are believed to encourage the formation of exocytotic extrusions instead of endocytotic vesicles during freeze induced osmotic contraction [22, 24, 25] This process is facilitated by a change in gene expression patterns for the responsible proteins. Dehydrins are a class of LEA proteins that are induced by ABA and are suggested to inhibit the denaturation of macromolecules (e.g. [35])
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