Abstract
Alginate-coated meristems from in vitro-grown axillary buds of mint (Mentha spicata L.) were successfully cryopreserved by vitrification. Excised meristems from nodal segments cold hardened at 4 °C for 3 weeks were encapsulated and osmoprotected by a mixture of 2 M glycerol plus 0.4 M sucrose. These meristems were dehydrated with a highly concentrated vitrification solution (PVS2 solution) for 3 h at 0 °C prior to a plunge into liquid nitrogen. Successfully encapsulated vitrified meristems developed shoots within a week after plating without intermediary callus formation. The average rate of shoot formation amounted to nearly 90%. This procedure was successfully applied to other Mentha species. It was also confirmed that encapsulated vitrified meristems produced a much higher rate of shoot formation than the encapsulated dried meristems. Thus, this revised encapsulation vitrification method appears promising for the cryopreservation of mint and other germplasm.
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Received: 24 November 1998 / Revision received: 8 February 1999 / Accepted: 26 February 1999
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Hirai, D., Sakai, A. Cryopreservation of in vitro-grown axillary shoot-tip meristems of mint (Mentha spicata L.) by encapsulation vitrification. Plant Cell Reports 19, 150–155 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/s002990050725
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s002990050725