Pollen Cryopreservation Protocol for Wild Species of Solanum

Abstract

Solanum belongs to the family Solanaceae with over 1500 species worldwide including cultivated and wild species. The wild species of Solanum is used in breeding program for improving the cultivated species with respect to yield, quality and stress resistant traits. Pollen cryopreservation of wild Solanum genotypes can be highly beneficial in Solanum improvement programmes as they can ensure the pollen availablity round the year for hybridization. The chapter presents a detailed protocol for pollen cryopreservation starting from collection of pollen, its dehydration, in vitro. Pollen germination using Brewbaker pollen medium with added sucrose and cryopreservation in cryobiological system containing liquid nitrogen. Post-cryopreservation studies were carried out to compare the germination profiles of the fresh pollen and cryopreserved pollen. The details of the materials used and method developed for the protocol are discussed in this chapter.