Field Performance of Cryopreserved Seed-derived Maize Plants.

BACKGROUND: Cryo-preservation of plant materials in liquid nitrogen (LN) has been described as a suitable technology to conserve genetic resources of several species. However, the potential effects of LN in the subsequent plant growth in the field should be studied before large-scale implementation of cryopreserved germplasm banks.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the field performance of cryopreserved seed-derived maize adult plants.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Germination percentage and numbers of leaves and ears per plant, internodes in stems, middle - aged leaf length, plant height, ear traits and weight of 100 seeds were recorded.

RESULTS: Statistically significant differences between adult plants derived from cryopreserved seeds and the control treatment were not observed (t-test, p=0.05).

CONCLUSION: The results presented confirm at the phenotype level the effectiveness of maize seed cryostorage to preserve and regenerate true-to-type plants.