The unique role of seed banking and cryobiotechnologies in plant conservation

• Published in: Plants, people, planet people, planet, 2021-01, Vol.3 (1), p.83-91
• Main Authors: Walters, Christina, Pence, Valerie C.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Arboreta; Banking; Biodiversity; Botanical gardens; Capacity development; Collections; Conservation; Cryogenic storage; Drying; ex situ conservation; exceptional species; genebanks; Germplasm; Humidity; in vitro; Liquid nitrogen; longevity; Low temperature; Packaging; Plant tissues; Prediction models; preservation; Seed banks; seed storage behavior; Seeds; Species; Taxa; Technology transfer; Wildlife conservation
• ISSN: 2572-2611; 2572-2611
• DOI: 10.1002/ppp3.10121

Societal Impact Statement Eroding plant diversity has serious implications for the well‐being of humanity and our planet. Conserving plants ex situ requires technologies that are rapidly advancing and readily accessible. The alarming loss of plant habitats has spawned global investment in technologies that focus on either conventional freezer storage, which exploit seed adaptations to survive drying, or on cryogenic platforms, that ensure long‐term survival of germplasm that is not amenable to conventional methods. Increasing evidence that germplasm survives for decades provide proof of concept, but also warns of the limited utility of stored germplasm that is not returned to the Earth. Summary A future sustainable world requires concerted efforts to conserve plant biodiversity. Using an integrated approach, botanic gardens, arboreta, universities, governmental agencies, and non‐governmental organizations are addressing that challenge. Here, we summarize some of the technological advances, in an ever‐growing toolbox, that increase the scope of taxa that are conserved ex situ as well as the lifespans of diverse plant tissues that can be used as germplasm. Seed banking continues to be a powerful and efficient tool. Seeds that tolerate extreme drying and low temperature will likely survive at least 100 years using conventional conditions of a common freezer. The extreme tolerance of seeds among diverse taxa has led to the global growth of seed banks to over 1,750 currently, and the conservation of over 50,000 species. Not all plants produce seeds or seeds that survive freezer conditions. Predictive models provide insight into the extent of taxa needing alternative strategies and an initial list of such species is available. These “exceptional” species require cryobiotechnologies (cryogenic storage in liquid nitrogen and in vitro technologies), which provide effective, long‐term ex situ conservation for a wide variety of tissues beyond seeds. The application of cryobiotechnologies increases the potential for conserving all plant biodiversity. Restoration of plant biodiversity into the future will require institutional collaborations among living collections, seed banks, and cryobanks to ensure technology transfer, information gathering and sharing, and capacity building in centers of biodiversity. Eroding plant diversity has serious implications for the well‐being of humanity and our planet. Conserving plants ex situ requires technologies that are rapidly adva