Abstract:

Conserving crops in the face of climate change is a paramount issue. Cryopreservation, the process of storing living cells and tissue at liquid nitrogen temperatures (LN, -196 ˚C), has emerged as the preferred method for long-term crop conservation, enabling the preservation of everyday staple crops. Successful cryopreservation requires the removal of freezable water from cells by osmotic dehydration. Subsequent vitrification (glass formation) is prompted by rapid cooling in LN. Cryoprotective agents are used to dehydrate and achieve tissue vitrification during the cooling in LN. The success of cryoprotectants is determined by tissue viability after warming. Although sucrose is a key ingredient in most plant vitrification solutions, its function in preserving plant tissues remains unclear. Understanding sucrose interaction with plant cells is essential to improve plant vitrification protocols. This talk will explore current methods used to probe sucrose-cell interactions.