2014 ASHS Annual Conference

¹University of Florida, Tropical Research and Education Center, 18905 SW 280^th St, Homestead, FL 33031-3314

²Universidade Estadual Paulista “Julio de Mesquita Filho”, Via de Acesso Prof. Paulo Donato Castellane, s/n, Jaboticabal, SP 14884-900, Brazil 

³Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Depto. de Fitotecnia, Centro de Ciências Agrárias, CP 6001, Londrina, PR  86051-990, Brazil

⁴Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense, Laboratório de Fitotecnia, Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias Agropecuárias, Av. Alberto Lamego, 2000, Campos do Goytacazes, RJ  28013-602 Brazil 

Orchids are very popular flowering plants worldwide, occupying top position in the international market as cut flowers and potted plants.  In the United States, orchids rank second as flowering potted plants, just behind poinsettias, with an estimated wholesale value of US$200 million in 2011 (USDA, 2012).  Over collection and habitat destruction have been reported as the main factors for the reduction in wild orchid natural populations (Swarts and Dixon, 2009).  Therefore, conservation strategies for orchids need to be addressed.  Cryopreservation has been widely regarded as an efficient tool for long-term storage of plant material and several cryopreservation methods have been developed for orchids.  In addition to preservation of endangered orchids, cryopreservation also offers a suitable alternative for breeders, allowing long-term storage of orchid genetic material for breeding and genetic improvement programs (Vendrame et al., 2007). In this presentation we will summarize a number of orchid cryopreservation studies performed in our laboratory at the University of Florida’s Tropical Research Center for the past seven years.  Our first studies with Dendrobium allowed the development of an efficient protocol for cryopreservation of hybrid mature seeds using vitrification, a simple and reliable method (Vendrame et al., 2007).  Cryopreservation of Dendrobium pollen also showed to be an effeicient means for long-term storage of orchid pollen (Vendrame et al., 2008). Subsequent studies aimed at improved cryopreservation protocol development with the addition of phloroglucinol, which provided enhanced recovery of cryopreserved Dendrobium nobile protocorms (Vendrame and Faria, 2011) and of Dendrobium hybrid seeds and protocorms (Galdiano Jr. et al., 2012).  The genetic stability of recovered seedlings from cryopreserved Oncidium flexuosum seeds has also been evaluated (Galdiano Jr. et al, 2013). Results from these studies will be presented and discussed.