Cryopreservation of Hevea brasiliensis zygotic embryos by vitrification and encapsulation-dehydration

The mature zygotic embryos of the Hevea brasiliensis were cryopreserved through the use of the vitrification and encapsulation/dehydration techniques. In all the experiments, the zygotic embryos were pre-cultured for three days in the MS medium supplemented with 0.3 M sucrose before they were used for the cryopreservation technique. In the vitrification procedure, the effect of the plant vitrification solutions (PVS2 and PVS3) and exposure time were studied. The highest survival rate (88.87%) and regrowth (66.33%) were achieved when the precultured zygotic embryos were incubated in a loading solution for 20 minutes at 0°C. They were subsequently exposed to PVS2 for 120 minutes at 0°C and plunged directly into liquid nitrogen. Cryopreservation by the encapsulation-dehydration method was successfully done by leaving the encapsulated zygotic embryos in a laminar flow for 4 hours prior to plunging into a LN. The survival rate and regrowth of the encapsulated zygotic embryos were 37.50% and 27.98%, respectively. The cryopreserved zygotic embryos were able to develop into whole plants.