Effects of plant growth regulators on survival and recovery growth following cryopreservation

Abstract

Studies on the effects of plant growth regulators (PGRs) on survival, recovery and postrecovery growth of shoot apices following cryopreservation are limited. In this study, the effects of plant growth regulators in both the culture phase and the recovery phase of cryostorage were examined for the rare plant species, Anigozanthos viridis ssp terraspectans Hopper. Survival of shoot apices was not correlated to cytokinin or auxin treatments administered in culture media prior to cryostorage. In recovery media, the plant growth regulators, kinetin, zeatin (cytokinins), IAA, (auxin) and GA3 were examined for their effect following cryopreservation. It was found that the application of a combination of cytokinin and 0.5 μM GA3 from day zero was the most appropriate for obtaining vigorously growing plantlets following LN immersion. This combination proved to be more effective than basal medium, zeatin or kinetin treatments.