GERMPLASM CONSERVATION

AND
CRYOPRESERVATION
Presentation by HARISH.B
I-MSc Zoology, Voorhees college
INTRODUCTION

 Biodiversity Conservation refers to the protection, upliftment and

management of biodiversity in order to derive sustainable benefits for
present and future generations.
 It has three main objectives namely;
1) To preserve the diversity of the species.
2) Sustainable utilisation of species and ecosystem.
3) To maintain life-supporting systems and essential ecological
processes.
 Germplasm conservation is the most successful method to conserve
the genetic traits of endangered and commercially valuable species.
 Biodiversity Conservation Approaches

Exsitu Conservation
Insituconservation

Exsitu Conservation is classified into three categories namely;

1) Conventional which include Orthodox seeds.
2) Tissue culture, Cryopreservation and Seed banks, etc.
3) Plant conservation including Botanical Gardens and Arboreta.

Insitu Conservation is classifies into two categories namely:

1) Natural habitat including Wildlife Sanctuaries, National Parks,
Biosphere reserves / Genetic reserves.
2) On farm including Farmers fields / Home Gardens and Tribal areas.
 GERMPLASM BANK
 Germplasm are living genetic resources such as seeds or tissues that are
maintained for the purpose of animal and plant breeding, preservation and
other research uses.
 The preservation of genetic stocks in a frozen state for long time in the tissue
culture laboratories is called Germplasm Bank.
 Generally; Meristems, anthers, pollens, zygotic and somatic embryos,
protoplasts, cells, hybrid protoplasts and calli of plants and animals are stored
in the Germplasm banks.
 In general, the information of the germplasm bank is sent to National and
International Research Institutes like CIP, CIAT, IRRI, CIMMYT, etc in
different countries.
 It helps in maintaining germplasm banks and exchange of disease free
germplasm between nations is the main prospect of the germplasm banks.
CRYO RESEARCH CENTRES:

 In the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), germplasm of various

rice varieties have been preserved by using cryopreservation.
 The DSM (Deutsche Sammlung Von Mikroorganismen and Zellkulturen GmbH,
Germany) has maintained cryopreserved germplasm of potato varieties and their
wild relatives.
 The University of Birmingham (UK) and International Institute of Tropical
Agriculture (IITA, Nigeria) have preserved germplasm of Musa (banana)
varieties by cryopreservation.
 Coconut embryos have been cryopreserved in Coconut Research Institute
(Philippines), Coconut Research Centre (Srilanka), Central Plantation Crops
Research Institute (CPCRI, Kasaracood, Kerala).
 The IPGRI has created a Coconut Genetic Resources Network (COGENT) to
share information about coconut germplasm.
 CRYOPRESERVATION

The preservation of biological materials in the frozen state is called as

Cryopreservation. The basic principle of cryopreservation is that, when biological
materials are maintained at zero metabolism, their cells remain undivided without
losing the viability for a long time.
Cryopreservation if useful for;
 Preservation of germplasm of plants.
 Longtime storage of microbial cultures in microbial culture collection centres.
 Storage of animal cell lines, semen and hybridoma.
 Protection of animal stocks from genetic drifts.
 Protection of plant and animal stocks from microbial contamination and cross-
contamination.
 Plant tissues, calli, cell suspension, embryos and protoplasts can be preserved for
a long time by keeping them at -196 degree Celsius in liquid nitrogen is called as
Cryopreservation.
 Callus tissue of potato, pea, coconut, rice, wheat, oil palm, strawberry, sugarcane,
etc are stored by cryopreservation.
Achievements:
1. Meristems of potato, cassava, sugarcane, peanut, etc are stored for 2-4 years.
The viability of cryopreserved meristems is 20-42%.
2. Cell suspensions of soybean, carrot, Datura, etc, are stored for 2-4 years and
its viability is upto 50%.
3. Embryos of blackgram, greengram, wheat, rice, coconut, etc are stored for a
longtime and its viability is upto 55%.
4. Pollen grains of peanut, mustard, cotton, wheat, rice, belladonna, etc are
stored for a long time.
CELL BANKS:
Long-time storage of animal cells at super-freeze temperature is called
cryopreservation. Cell lines, hybridoma, ova, sperms, etc have been stored for a long
time to preserve the cells for future use.
 The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (Hyderabad) is association
with Deccan Medical College has established Cell Bank of cornea and liver
cells.
 The AIIMS, New Delhi is developing treatments using bone marrow cells for
muscular dystrophy, spinal cord injury, cerebral dysplasia, heart tissue
damage, diabetes and motor neuron diseases.
 The Armed Force Medical College (AFMC), Pune, is setting up a large Stem
Cell Research Centre in India.
 Embryonic Tissue Centre (EmCell), Ukraine has been maintain cryobank of
embryonic cell suspensions containing stem cells useful for transplantation
and implantations, there are about 10,000 samples are stored here.
Conclusion:
Biodiversity is the key indicator of the health of an ecosystem. So its
important to conserve and protect our biodiversity in this world.