Cryopreservation: A Potential Tool for Long-term Conservation of Medicinal Plants

Cryoconservation and regeneration of axillary shoot meristems of Indigofera tinctoria (L.) by encapsulation–dehydration technique

“…The transfer of cells from room temperature to −196°C is done in such a way that the viability of the stored material is retained, so that their biological functions and growth can be reactivated after thawing and transfer to regrowth medium (Towill 1991). Cryopreservation offers the only safe and cost-effective option for the long-term conservation of plant genetic resources (Dixit et al 2004;Engelmann 2004).…”

Técnicas de conservación in vitro para el establecimiento de bancos de germoplasma en cultivos tropicales.

“…Para proveer a los explantes y semillas las condiciones adecuadas de almacenamiento in vitro se han desarrollado técnicas que permiten mantener una alta diversidad en espacios reducidos, en condiciones asépticas y a salvo de los riesgos ambientales que podrían provocar su pérdida (Withers et al 1990;Dixit et al 2004, Tyagi et al 2007. Por ejemplo, embriones y cotiledones de Arachis retusa fueron conservados in vitro para superar los problemas de baja viabilidad en el almacenamiento de la semilla sexual, debido al alto contenido lipídico (gagliardi et al 2007).…”

“…además, con el cultivo in vitro se facilita el intercambio de material genético, ya que muestras pequeñas pueden ser enviadas en condiciones asépticas, incluso a países con regulaciones fitosanitarias muy estrictas (Withers et al 1990, engelmann 1991, Dixit et al 2004.…”

Role of biotechnology in the conservation of rare, threatened and endangered medicinal plant species in the Kingdom of Eswatini (Swaziland)

“…In vitro collecting of tissues is less invasive than removing whole plants and allows for an efficient sampling of a large number of plants when seeds are not available (Reed et al, 2011). Cryopreservation represents the only safe and cost effective option for long term conservation of plant germplasm (Rajasekharan and Prakashkumar, 2010), and management of in vitro produced materials for biotechnological applications (Dixit et al, 2005). The in vitro production of secondary metabolites in plant cell suspension cultures has been reported from various medicinal plants (Tripathi and Tripathi, 2003).…”

“…Their use in biotechnology has assumed considerable significance because of over exploitation of these plants to meet the increasing demand (Bajaj et al, 1988;Dixit et al, 2005). Plant biotechnology offers new means of improving biodiversity conservation rather than threatening biodiversity in various ways (Pathak and Abido, 2014;Wieczorek, 2003).…”