Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T03:51:35.072Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Cryopreservation of seeds of four coffee species (Coffea arabica, C. costatifructa, C. racemosa and C. sessiliflora): importance of water content and cooling rate

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 September 2008

Stéhane Dussert*
Affiliation:
ORSTOM, Laboratoire des Ressources Génétiques et Amélioration des Plantes Tropicales, BP 5045, 34032 Montpellier Cedex 1, France
Nathalie Chabrillange
Affiliation:
ORSTOM, Laboratoire des Ressources Génétiques et Amélioration des Plantes Tropicales, BP 5045, 34032 Montpellier Cedex 1, France
Florent Engelmann
Affiliation:
IPGRI, Via delle Sette Chiese 142, 00145 Rome, Italy
François Anthony
Affiliation:
CATIE, Apartado 59, 7170 Turrialba, Costa Rica
Jacques Louarn
Affiliation:
ORSTOM, BP 434 Man, Côte-d'lvoire
Serge Hamon
Affiliation:
ORSTOM, Laboratoire des Ressources Génétiques et Amélioration des Plantes Tropicales, BP 5045, 34032 Montpellier Cedex 1, France
*
*Correspondence E-mail stephane.dussert@mpl.orstom.fr

Abstract

In the range of water contents studied (0.1–0.4 g H2O g dw−1), Coffea arabica seeds were less sensitive to desiccation than C. costatifructa, C. racemosa and C. sessiliflora seeds. At 0.20 g H2O g dw−1, 53% of C. arabica seeds germinated after direct immersion in LN (rapid cooling, 200°C min−1), but none of them developed into normal seedlings. By contrast, in C. costatifructa, C. racemosa and C. sessiliflora, when seeds were dehydrated to the optimal water content (0.19, 0.28 and 0.31 g H2O g dw−1, respectively), the percentages of seeds which developed into normal seedlings after LN exposure were 26, 78 and 31% of the desiccation control, respectively. Normal seedlings could be recovered from cryopreserved C. arabica seeds only if they were desiccated to 0.20 g H2O g dw−1 and precooled slowly to −50°C prior to immersion in LN. Precooling seeds at 2°C min−1 allowed 25% of seeds to develop into normal seedlings. The thawing rate had no effect on the survival of cryopreserved C. arabica seeds. In all cryopreservation experiments, the total germination did not reflect the percentage of seeds which developed into normal seedlings. Examination of excised embryos indicated a partial explanation of this difference since only the shoot apex was destroyed in abnormal embryos, whereas the hypocotyl and radicle were normal.

Type
Physiology and biochemistry
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1998

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abdelnour-Esquivel, A, Villalobos, V and Engelmann, F (1992) Cryopreservation of zygotic embryos of Coffea spp Cryo-Letters 13, 297302.Google Scholar
Becwar, M R, Stanwood, P C and Lehonardt, K W (1983) Dehydration effects on freezing characteristics and survival in liquid nitrogen of desiccation-tolerant and desiccation-sensitive seeds journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science 108, 613618.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berthaud, J and Charrier, A (1988) Genetic resources of Coffea. pp 142in Clarke, R J and Macrae, R (Eds) Coffee, Vol. 4, Agronomy. London, Elsevier Applied Science.Google Scholar
Bertrand-Desbrunais, A and Charrier, A (1989) Conservation des ressources génétiques caféières en vitrothèque. pp 438–47 in Proceedings of the 13th ASIC, Paipa, Colombia.Google Scholar
Chaudhury, R and Chandel, K P S (1994) Germination studies and cryopreservation of seeds of black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) – a recalcitrant species Cryo-Letters 15, 145150.Google Scholar
Chin, H F, Krishnapillany, B and Alang, Z C (1988) Cryopreservation of Veitchia and Howea palm embryos: non-development of the haustorium Cryo-Letters 9, 372379.Google Scholar
Couturon, E (1980) Le maintien de la viabilité des graines de caféiers par le contrôle de leur teneur en eau et de la température de stockage Café Cacao Thé 1, 2732.Google Scholar
Dickie, J B, May, K, Morris, S V A and Titley, S E (1991) The effects of desiccation on seed survival in Acer platanoides L. and Acer pseudoplatanus L Seed Science Research 1, 149162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dussert, S, Chabrillange, N, Anthony, F, Engelmann, F, Recalt, C and Hamon, S (1997) Variability in storage response within a coffee (Coffea spp.) core collection under slow growth conditions Plant Cell Reports 16, 343348.Google ScholarPubMed
Ellis, R H, Hong, T D and Roberts, E H (1990) An intermediate category of seed storage behaviour? I. Coffee, journal of Experimental Botany 41, 11671174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellis, R H, Hong, T D and Roberts, E H (1991) An intermediate category of seed storage behaviour? II. Effects of provenance, immaturity, and imbibition on desiccation-tolerance in coffee Journal of Experimental Botany 42, 653657.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hu, J, Guo, C G and Shi, S X (1994) Partial drying and post-thaw preconditioning improve the survival and germination of cryopreserved seeds of tea (Camellia sinensis) Plant Genetic Resources Newsletter 98, 2528.Google Scholar
Hong, T D and Ellis, R H (1995) Interspecific variation in seed storage behaviour within two genera – Coffea and Citrus Seed Science and Technology 23, 165181.Google Scholar
Normah, M N and Vengadasalam, M (1992) Effects of moisture content on cryopreservation of Coffea and Vigna seeds and embryos Cryo-Letters 13, 199208.Google Scholar
Normah, M N, Reed, B M and Yu, X (1994) Seed storage and cryoexposure behavior in hazelnut (Corylus avellana L. cv. Barcelona) Cryo-Letters 15, 315322.Google Scholar
Pence, V C (1995) Cryopreservation of recalcitrant seeds. pp 2950in Bajaj, Y P S (Ed.) Cryopreservation of plant germplasm I. Berlin, Springer-Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, E H (1973) Predicting the storage life of seeds Seed Science and Technology 1, 499514.Google Scholar
Roos, E E and Stanwood, P C (1981) Effects of low temperature, cooling rate, and moisture content on seed germination of lettuce, Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science 106, 3034.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ryan, T A (1960) Significance tests for multiple comparison of proportions, variances and other statistics Psychological Bulletin 57, 318328.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stanwood, P C (1985) Cryopreservation of seed germplasm for genetic conservation, pp 199226in Kartha, K K (Ed.) Cryopreservation of plant cell and organs. Boca Raton, CRC press.Google Scholar
Stanwood, P C (1987) Survival of sesame seeds at the temperature (–196°C) of liquid nitrogen Crop Science 27, 327331.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tompsett, P B (1984) Desiccation studies in relation to the storage of Araucaria seed Annals of Applied Biology 105, 581586.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tompsett, P B (1987) Desiccation and storage studies on Dipterocarpus seeds Annals of Applied Biology 110, 371379.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van der Vossen, H A M (1977) Methods of preserving the viability of coffee seed in storage Kenya Coffee 45, 3135.Google Scholar
Vertucci, C W (1989) Effects of cooling rate on seeds exposed to liquid nitrogen temperatures Plant Physiology 90, 14781485.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed