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Title: Cassava tissue culture and long-term preservation

Author
item RODRIGUES ZEBRAL A., LEONARDO - Universidade Federal De Lavras
item ALVES, ALFREDO - Embrapa-Labex
item PAIVA VILELA, LUCIANO - Universidade Federal De Lavras
item PAIVA, RENATO - Universidade Federal De Lavras
item Jenderek, Maria
item ELLIS, DAVID - Idivet Eirl

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/16/2013
Publication Date: 8/11/2013
Citation: Rodrigues Zebral A., L., Alves, A.A., Paiva Vilela, L., Paiva, R., Jenderek, M.M., Ellis, D. 2013. Cassava tissue culture and long-term preservation. Meeting Abstract. 2nd International Symposium on Plant Cryopreservation, Fort Collins, CO, Aug 11-14, 2013. pp.102.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is cultivated mainly for its starchy roots as an important staple food for the tropics. M. esculenta is the only cultivated species in the genus Manihot, which contains 98 species, mostly native to Brazil. In recent years several research groups have reported methods for cassava tissue culture, offering important applications for germplasm collections, such as conservation, sharing, micropropagation, diseases eradication, among others. However, as in many cultures, in vitro techniques and cryopreservation protocols for cassava are genotype-dependent. Thus, one objective of this study was to extend these investigations. Assessing the factors associated with in vitro regeneration of two cultivars of cassava. Uninodal explants of cassava plants growing in vitro were cultured to obtain elongated axillary shoots. Meristems were excised and cultured in four different culture media. Regeneration, rooting and callus formation were evaluated. A significant difference was found among the tested media. For both cultivars the best culture medium was supplemented with 0.2 mg.L-1 kinetin and 1.0 g.L-1 activated charcoal. As a result of this, various methods of cryopreservation were tested for the development of a cryopreservation protocol for efficient storage of such cultivars. Using the glazing technique, with a solution of modified pre-treatment with 0.5% Tween-20 reached a regeneration rate higher than 50% after exposure to liquid nitrogen.