Cryopreservation of Acer monspessulanum seeds

Montpellier Maple (Acer monspessulanum) is one of the broad leaf species grows in semiarid and cold climate of I.R. Iran. Preservation of this wild woody species has a greatimportance in natural resource point of view. Cryopreservation technique is used to preserve seed and vegetative organs under -196 ºC conditions. In the mentioned temperature, all of the metabolic and physiological activities of the seed or organ almost is stopped. As the result, seed and organ can survive for a long period of time. In order to preserve A. monspessulanum seed under -196 ºC condition, three pre-cryopreservation treatments, PVS2 solution, Desiccation and 30% Glycerol were applied. The treated seeds were transferred into Liquid Nitrogen (LN) and stored for 7 and 30 days respectively. After finishing storage period, the seeds were removed from the LN, imposed to heat shock and transferred between wet-papers in germination boxes.The cryogenic seeds together with control seeds were incubated at +4 ºC for 105 days to germinate. Mean germination percentage of the cryopreserved seeds was 19.18% and, there were no significant differences between the control and cryopreserved seeds. No adverse effects or abnormalities were observed on seedlings developed from cryopreserved seeds. The results showed that, the long-term preservation of the species, seed in -196 ºC using suitable precryopreservation treatment is possible.