S04 - Session P5 - Conservation and long-term storage - Anatomical changes and cytogenetic stability in bird of paradise plants after zygotic embryo cryopreservation by desiccation method

Authors: Patrícia Paiva *, Junia Rafael M. Figueiredo, Diogo Pedrosa Corrêa da Silva, Renato Paiva, Raquel Mesquita, Rafaela Ribeiro Souza, Michele Valquíria dos Reis

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 was to evaluate the occurrence of anatomical changes and the maintenance of the cytogenetic stability of plants recovered from the cryopreserved bird of paradise ( Strelitzia reginae) zygotic embryos. Zygotic embryos were cryopreserved in liquid nitrogen (+LN) after being dehydrated for 0, 30, and 60 minutes 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 a 30-minute 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.