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Cryopreservation, In Vitro, and Seed Banking Technologies for Plant Biodiversity...
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Cryopreservation, In Vitro, and Seed Banking Technologies for Plant Biodiversity Conservation

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Cell Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2026) | Viewed by 3687

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Haenghoon Kim

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural Life Science, Sunchon National University, Suncheon 57922, Republic of Korea
Interests: biodiversity conservation; cryopreservation; future crops; in vitro culture
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Elena Popova

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
K.A. Timiryazev Institute of Plant Physiology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 127276 Moscow, Russia
Interests: biotechnology; in vitro cell culture; cell biology; tissue culture
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Plant conservation is one of the most significant challenges facing the modern world. It requires both scientific knowledge and long-term commitment to ensure the survival of diverse plant species for future generations. The growing number of wild species in need of protection is amplified by a variety of genotypes created throughout human history for food production, medicine, construction, industry, and recreation. Ex situ conservation, which involves preserving seeds, pollen, embryos, microclones, and DNA samples, as well as cryopreservation, significantly enhances conventional conservation efforts by expanding and diversifying storage conditions and technologies for preserving plant biodiversity more effectively and for the long term. This Special Issue invites scientists, genebank specialists, policymakers, and biotechnologists from around the world to explore recent advances in long-term plant conservation, highlight ongoing challenges, and prognosticate new challenges, as well as suggest strategic directions and potential ways to address them effectively. We welcome research papers and reviews that touch on all aspects of ex situ conservation of plant biodiversity.

Dr. Haenghoon Kim
Dr. Elena Popova
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • gene banks
  • plant biodiversity conservation
  • in vitro culture
  • cryopreservation
  • seed storage

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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11 pages, 3815 KB  
Communication
Storage-Induced Fruit Breakdown in Cryptocarya alba: Implications for the Conservation of a Keystone Mediterranean Recalcitrant Species
by Viviana Darricarrere, Javier Santa Cruz, Diego Calbucheo, Samuel Valdebenito, Mayra Providell, Mauricio Cisternas, Victoria Muena and Patricia Peñaloza
Plants 2025, 14(21), 3307; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14213307 - 29 Oct 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 789
Abstract
Recalcitrant species are highly sensitive to drought and climate stress, posing urgent challenges for their conservation. Propagation for ex situ management and habitat restoration depends on adequate fruit handling, yet postharvest protocols remain insufficiently examined to support practical implementation. Cryptocarya alba, a [...] Read more.
Recalcitrant species are highly sensitive to drought and climate stress, posing urgent challenges for their conservation. Propagation for ex situ management and habitat restoration depends on adequate fruit handling, yet postharvest protocols remain insufficiently examined to support practical implementation. Cryptocarya alba, a dominant tree of the Chilean Mediterranean biome, reflects this gap. Despite its ecological relevance and central role in forest planning, the biological basis of its recalcitrant behavior has yet to be fully elucidated, constraining informed decision-making on its propagation. Accordingly, this study examined the progressive breakdown of fruit integrity under two contrasting storage conditions—refrigeration (5 °C) and room temperature (20 °C)—over 150 days, using a multiscale approach combining physical measurements, histology, and scanning electron microscopy. Fruit weight, moisture, pericarp thickness, and cotyledon starch exhibited a significant linear decline over time. The rate was consistently higher at room temperature—except for starch, which showed no quantitative differences across treatments, though the severity of granule alterations was greater. Overall evidence indicates a close association among these variables, suggesting that desiccation and metabolism-driven degradation result in the structural collapse of C. alba fruits. These findings highlight the need to integrate environmental conditions alongside complementary strategies targeted at physiological regulation, guiding the development of robust, science-based handling protocols to support the species’ conservation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cryopreservation, In Vitro, and Seed Banking Technologies for Plant Biodiversity Conservation)
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Review

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29 pages, 11013 KB  
Review
Beyond the Protocol: Revisiting the Critical Role of Donor Plants in Cryopreservation of Economically Important Clonal Crops
by Elena Popova and Haeng-Hoon Kim
Plants 2026, 15(8), 1221; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15081221 - 16 Apr 2026
Viewed by 533
Abstract
Shoot tip cryopreservation is essential for the long-term conservation of plant genetic resources. It provides the only reliable method for establishing a long-term, readily available gene pool of clonally propagated crops and elite in vitro clones used in the pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetic [...] Read more.
Shoot tip cryopreservation is essential for the long-term conservation of plant genetic resources. It provides the only reliable method for establishing a long-term, readily available gene pool of clonally propagated crops and elite in vitro clones used in the pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetic industries. Still, its success is often limited by the inherent sensitivity of many species to the osmotic and chemical stresses imposed by concentrated cryoprotectant (vitrification) solutions and severe dehydration. The optimization of modern cryopreservation protocols primarily focuses on modifying shoot tip preculture, cryoprotectant treatments, or regrowth conditions, while frequently overlooking donor plant preconditioning or relegating it to a secondary role. However, the physiological state of in vitro plants from which apical or axillary shoot tips are extracted may hold the key to successful post-cryopreservation recovery, especially in cryo-sensitive taxa. This review revisits the critical role of donor plant vigor and induced stress tolerance in the cryopreservation of clonal crops by systematically evaluating preconditioning strategies, including cold acclimation, sucrose pretreatment, and the use of growth regulators and signaling molecules such as abscisic, jasmonic, and salicylic acids, involved in stress signaling and tolerance development. The beneficial physiological changes induced by donor plant pretreatment, such as reduced freezable water content and the accumulation of protective compounds, are discussed in the context of contemporary cryopreservation methods. The effects of culture conditions, including the roles of ammonium and nitrates, light quality, culture density and aeration, medium strength, culture age, and subculture duration, are also considered. We analyze how different treatments of in vitro donor plants improve shoot tip tolerance to osmotic and/or chemical toxicity imposed by specific cryopreservation methods to support a material-centered selection of a cryopreservation procedure. Future directions and potential approaches for integrating target donor plant preconditioning into modern cryopreservation protocols for shoot tips, particularly in stress-sensitive species, are discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cryopreservation, In Vitro, and Seed Banking Technologies for Plant Biodiversity Conservation)
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18 pages, 903 KB  
Review
Oil Palm Germplasm Resources and Their Conservation: Advances and Challenges for In Vitro Conservation
by Saeed Rauf, Rodomiro Ortiz and Yong Wang
Plants 2025, 14(23), 3631; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14233631 - 28 Nov 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1915
Abstract
In vitro germplasm conservation provides an alternative method for preserving plant species that are vulnerable to natural hazards or for which in situ conservation is costly and challenging to manage. This review examines the significance and challenges associated with various in vitro conservation [...] Read more.
In vitro germplasm conservation provides an alternative method for preserving plant species that are vulnerable to natural hazards or for which in situ conservation is costly and challenging to manage. This review examines the significance and challenges associated with various in vitro conservation methods. It also provides an overview of the current advances in cryopreservation technology for oil palm. In vitro conservation approaches include two strategies: medium-term conservation, in which plants are maintained through the slow growth of explants, facilitated by the gradual release of nutrients, and low-temperature storage. The second approach involves long-term preservation via cryopreservation in liquid nitrogen. Cryopreservation enables the storage of pollen, calli, somatic embryos, and zygotic embryos. Significant progress has been made in cryopreservation, which was initially limited to cold-tolerant species. New techniques focus on conserving sensitive species, such as oil palm, through rapid dehydration and vitrification procedures using various plant materials, particularly polyembryoids and zygotic embryos. Additionally, hardening of plant material is to be induced through pre-culture techniques to enhance their survival under osmotic stress and ultralow temperature. The mechanisms underlying the adaptability of various plant materials, i.e., somatic embryoids and zygotic embryos under cryopreservation, need to be understood. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cryopreservation, In Vitro, and Seed Banking Technologies for Plant Biodiversity Conservation)
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