In vitro Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources

Rapid urban development and population explosion is causing loss of valuable germplasm. Many species have been identified as threatened or endangered. There is urgent need to conserve valuable wild species and the relatives and primitive cultivars of crop plants. In this regard tissue culture often has advantage over the conventional approach of germplasm conservation as seeds or field collections. This paper describes in vitro approaches for short-term (cold storage, desiccation and modification of gaseous environment) and long-term (cryopreservation) conservation of germplasm. Cold-storage of cultured tissues/shoots/plantlets is already in use for short-term preservation of germplasm. Cryopreservation requires further refinement of the technique.