Jiří Zámečník

By Jiří Zámečník, Miloš Faltus, Alois Bilavčík and Renata Kotková

Part of the book: Current Frontiers in Cryopreservation

By Stacy D. Hammond, Miloš Faltus and Jiří Zámečník

Cryopreservation is considered to be a reliable biotechnological tool for the long-term conservation of vegetatively propagated plant germplasm. The technique is based on freezing plant tissues at an ultralow temperature. However, high water content in plant tissue can result in injury during the cooling and thawing processes. Water behavior in the process of cryopreservation can be assessed by the use of thermal analysis method. This chapter demonstrates how the use of heat flux-type differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) thermal analysis methods such as standard DSC, temperature-modulated DSC (TMDSC), and quasi-isothermal temperature-modulated DSC (QITMDSC) can be used to assess the amount of freezable water and verify if the tissue being used has reached glass transition as well as analyzing the thermal events during cooling and freezing to reduce crystallization and damage by frost. Here, you can find a guide on how these thermal analysis methods can be applied, through concrete examples of each method and their use in the development of a more reliable and precise cryopreservation protocol for vegetatively propagated plant species.

Part of the book: Cryopreservation