Cryopreservation of various Ribes species by dormant winter buds

Authors: Jenderek, Maria; Yeater, Kathleen; Ambruzs, Barbara - Bobbie Ambruzs; Bushakra, Jill; Hummer, Kim

Submitted to: Scientia Horticulturae
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/5/2021
Publication Date: 8/17/2021
Citation: Jenderek, M.M., Yeater, K.M., Ambruzs, B.D., Bushakra, J., Hummer, K.E. 2021. Cryopreservation of various Ribes species by dormant winter buds. Scientia Horticulturae. 289. Article e110496. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2021.110496.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2021.110496

Interpretive Summary: Currant and gooseberry are specialty crops. These crops belong to many species of the Ribes genus and have a various fruit color. Their global fruit production is about 838 metric tons. The fruits (berries) are used for cassis, juice, preserves, in bakery, dairy products and pharmaceuticals. The USDA-ARS repository in Corvallis, OR preserves genetic resources of these plants in field and greenhouse; long- term preservation in ultra-low temperature (in liquid nitrogen vapor; LNV) is done in the USDA-ARS National Laboratory for Genetic Resources Preservation in Fort Collins, CO. Over two years, we have investigated the possibility of using dormant winter buds for preservation of the berry plants (golden currant, clove and wax currant, various relatives of black currant and gooseberry) in LNV. A standard processing method (no pretreatments), a pretreatment with a cryoprotectant (sucrose) and a pretreatment with a cryoprotectant combined with an antioxidant (sucrose with vitamin C) was tested. However, there was no significant difference in the dormant bud viability between the methods, dormant buds of some taxa did not survive when processed in the standard method or pretreated with sucrose only, but did survive when pretreated with sucrose and vitamin C. The viability was affected by the processing year and varied between the tested taxa. Modifications to the standard processing method may support successful preservation of other species in the berry plants collection.

Technical Abstract: Currant and gooseberry plants (Ribes L.) are native to the temperate regions of the Northern hemisphere through high elevations in Mexico and Central America to the mountainous regions of South America. Annually, the global production is about 838 MT. The fruits are used for cassis, juice preserves, in bakery, dairy products and pharmaceuticals. Some species such as black currant (Ribes nigrum) have antimicrobial, antitumor and immunostimulatory qualities; hence, interest is growing in crop improvement using a diversity of plant genetic resources. Active germplasm collections preserve Ribes cultivars as clonal plantations in the field or under protected cultivation, and species as plants in the field or seeds in cold storage. Long-term preservation of Ribes germplasm may be accomplished by various methods, one of them is cryopreservation of dormant winter buds (DB). This method is reported for preservation of R. nigrum. We have investigated the possibility of applying DBs for cryopreservation of other Ribes species. Eleven accessions in seven species (R. aureum var. aureum, R. aureum var. villosum, R. cereum, R. erythrocarpum, R. mascalerium, R. turbinatum and R. uva-crispa) were cryopreserved over two winter seasons without a pretreatment (standard), with a cryoprotectant (0.75 M sucrose) or a cryoprotectant with an antioxidant (0.75 M sucrose with 0.75 mM vitamin C). A 2-year average viability varied significantly among the accessions processed with the standard method (10 to 87.5%) and among accessions processed with the pretreatments (32.5 to 97.5 %); however, the difference between the standard and treatment procedures was not significant. A significant difference in viability between the processing years was observed and there was an interaction between accession, year and treatments for seven accessions processed in three treatments but not in the four accessions processed in the two treatments. Cryopreservation of the broad species in the Ribes germplasm collection may be supported by identifying modifications of the standard cryopreservation procedure.