Galina Filipenko

Background . Soybean Glycine max (L.) Merr. seeds rapidly lose their germination ability when stored under uncontrolled room temperature and humidity conditions. This necessitates the use of special techniques to preserve accessions of the collection. Low temperature storage (LTS) under conditions of low ambient humidity allows for the maintenance of high seed germination rate, however even in these conditions some accessions reduce their ability to germinate, which makes it relevant to assess the results of long-term preservation of soybean accessions in the VIR Genebank. Furthermore, it should be kept in mind that several months of storage under room conditions may elapse between their removal from long-term storage (LTS) and sowing within the next reproduction cycle. Our goal was to evaluate the change in germination over this storage interval. Materials and methods. The study was conducted on 290 soybean accessions from the VIR collection, originating from virtually the entire cultivation area of the crop. The reproduction of accessions was carried out from 2000 to 2016 at VIR experiment stations: the Adler Experiment Station, the Kuban Experiment Station (Krasnodar Region), and the Far East Experimental Station (Primorsky Region). The seeds were stored in sealed foil laminated bags at – 10°C. The accessions were removed from LTS and germination (Gi) assessed in 2022. After six months of storage under room conditions, germination (G ₂ ) was evaluated again. The retention of germination ability was expressed as the germination index (GI), namely GI ₁ =G ₁ /G _i for LTS, and GI ₂ =G ₂ /G ₁ for storage under room conditions. Results. At the start of LTS, seed germination (G _i ) ranged from 12% to 100% (median 82.0%), whereas after LTS (G1) it ranged from 5% to 97% (median 64.5%), and after storage under room conditions (G2) – from 0% to 100% (47.5%). GI ₁ ranged from 0.1 to 1.4 (median 0.78) and GI ₂ from 0.0 to 1.68 (0.83). GI ₁ and GI ₂ do not have a strong relationship with G _i (correlation coefficients r=0.14 and 0.16). According to the GI ₁ indicator, the best storage results were demonstrated by seeds grown at the Far East Experiment Station (0.83), compared to 0.79 for specimens from the Adler Station and 0.69 for specimens from the Kuban Station. Conclusion . After 6-22 years of LTS at – 10°C and subsequent six months of storage under room conditions, median soybean seed germination values decrease by 17.5% and 17.0%, respectively. The degree of change in germination after both LTS and room storage is weakly related to the initial germination value. The spread of germination index values after LTS (GI ₁ ) and subsequent room storage (GI ₂ ) indicates that soybean accessions vary in their response to storage. Data obtained on specific accessions can be used in future genetic research. To optimize seeding techniques for specimens after LTS, it is recommended to shorten the seed storage period at room temperature before sowing. The conditions of the Far East Experiment Station are most suitable for the reproduction of soybean seed accessions from the VIR collection for the purpose of their subsequent LTS.

Background. Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) is a microbiotic whose seeds quickly lose germination in uncontrolled conditions at room temperatures. This determines the need to preserve accessions in special conditions. Low temperature storage (LTS) allows to maintain high seed germination ability, but not for all accessions. Therefore, it is relevant to assess the results of LTS at the VIR Genebank and to make an attempt to determine the best geographical conditions for growing plants and harvesting seeds that will be subjected to LTS. Materials and methods. The work was carried out on 312 soybean accessions from the VIR collection, originating from almost the entire area of soybean cultivation. The accessions used in the research were reproduced at three VIR experiment stations (ES), namely Adler ES, Kuban ES (Krasnodar Territory) and the Far East ES (Primorsky Territory). The seeds were harvested in 1999 to 2017 and stored in sealed foil laminated bags at –10°C from 2002 to 2021. The accessions were removed from LTS and germination assessed in 2022. Results. At the beginning of LTS, seed germination (G_i) ranged from 12 to 100% (averaging 79.1%), while that after LTS (G_r) ranged from 1 to 97% (57.8% on average). The retention of germination ability was expressed as the germination index (GI = G_r / G_i), which ranged from 0.02 to 1.73 (an average of 0.72). All the indicators of germination in the range of up to 20 years of LTS were not associated with the duration of LTS and with the number of years before LTS (0.5-4 years in our research). The climatic conditions characteristic of the place of reproduction had a significant impact on G_i and G_r, but not on GI. The average G_i of seeds obtained at the Adler ES and Kuban ES did not differ significantly (77.4% and 75.7%), while that of seeds harvested at the Far East ES was significantly higher (84.0%). G_r of the accessions from the Far East ES (64.3%) was also greater than that of accessions from the Kuban ES (52.2%) and Adler ES (57.2%). The excessively high sum of temperatures above 10°C (recorded in some years at all stations) reduced G_i, G_r but had little effect on GI. The highest values of G_i, G_r, and GI were demonstrated by the accessions maturing in 101-120 days. Additionally drying of the most late-ripening accessions (later than 140 days) in sheaves under an awning yielded seeds with high germination ability and good LTS tolerance. Conclusion. The seeds from different places of reproduction of accessions differed in germination before and after LTS, and, on an average, the highest values were demonstrated by the seeds harvested at the Far East ES, where the temperature regime is closer to the optimal one for soybeans. The seed germination index showed relative independence from the conditions of reproduction of accessions, including the climate and weather conditions, as well as the initial germination ability and LTS duration.

The long-term storage of the genetic resources of fruit crops for breeding needs can be freely developed by cryopreservation cuttings with dormant buds in liquid nitrogen vapor, but so far, this method has not been practically used for peach. Cuttings with dormant buds of five peach varieties growing in the field gene bank at Krymsk Experiment and Breeding Station of VIR were collected for cryopreservation in 2019–2021. The three-factor analysis of variance showed that the viability of peach cuttings was significantly affected by the year (p < 0.001) and variety (p < 0.001). According to the three-year average characteristics of the cultivars, the analysis of variance showed a significant difference in the viability of the cultivars after cryopreservation (p = 0.004). According to the results of the three years of study, cvs. ‘Podarok Kryma’ (43.3%) and ‘Lucky 24 B’ (44.4%) showed the lowest viability after cryopreservation, significantly lower than cvs. ‘Baby Gold’ (54.4%) and ‘Ustojchivy 90′ (55.6%). Cv. ‘Lyubimets Krasnodara’ (48.9%) occupied an intermediate position. These viability values exceeded the minimum requirement for samples subjected to long-term cryogenic storage in a cryobank. Low-temperature storage of peach cuttings at –5 °C can be used for short-term preservation. After low-temperature storage, the viability of peach cutting amounted to an average of 67.1%.

Цель работы - исследование химических соединений ряда протатранов в качестве биостимуляторов всхожести пшеницы и тритикале после длительного хранения их семян, что обусловлено необходимостью восстановления всхожести уникальных образцов зерновых культур из коллекции Всероссийского института генетических ресурсов растений им. Н.И. Вавилова (Санкт-Петербург). В качестве объекта исследований использовали семена разных лет репродукции, имеющие разную исходную всхожесть, а также семена с исходно высокой всхожестью и подвергнутые ускоренному старению. Опыты велись в присутствии физиологически активных нетоксичных соединений - протатранов 2-Me-C₆H₄OCH₂COO^-• HN⁺(СН₂СН₂ОН)₃ (1) и 4-Cl-C₆H₄SCH₂COO^-•. HN⁺(СН₂СН₂ОН)₃ (2), в широком диапазоне концентраций (1•10^-2-1•10^-9 М). На первом этапе исследовано действие протатрана 1 на всхожесть мягкой яровой пшеницы. Наблюдали, что под влиянием соединения 1 в концентрациях от 10^-4 до 10^-9 М всхожесть семян повышалась на 8,7-20,0%, а энергии прорастания - на 4,7-8,0%. Использование протатрана 1 в более высокой концентрации (10^-2 М) приводило к снижению всхожести. Далее были проведены опыты на трех образцах семян мягкой озимой пшеницы, хранившихся в течение 52 лет и имевших всхожесть 19-26%. Экспозиция семян в течение 20 ч в водных растворах соединения 1 концентрации 5 • 10^-7-10^-9 М приводила к повышению всхожести на 3,7-10,0%. Наилучший стимулирующий эффект давала концентрация 5 • 10^-7 М. На следующем этапе работы использовали семена, имеющие высокую исходную всхожесть (86-96%), но подвергнутые процедуре ускоренного старения. Обработка таких образцов протатраном 1 в концентрации 10^-6 и 10^-4 М менее эффективна: энергия прорастания и всхожесть не изменялись или увеличивались незначительно (на 3,5 и 7,5% соответственно). Аналогично осуществляли обработку семян тритикале протатранами 1 и 2 в концентрации 5 • 10^-7 М. Показано, что действие соединений 1 и 2 приводит к увеличению всхожести на 3-7% и выраженному повышению энергии прорастания на 7-45%. При дальнейшей оптимизации процесса и выборе наиболее активных протатранов описанный здесь подход может обеспечить значимое восстановление всхожести семян.

One of the prospective ways to safely preserve the genetic resources of red and black currant for breeding needs is the cryopreservation of cuttings with dormant buds. Vegetative cuttings of 12 varieties of red and 11 varieties of black currant were harvested in various regions of Russia: North, Northwest, and Central. Their viability after cryopreservation in nitrogen vapors (about −184 °C) under field conditions was studied. For red currant samples, it ranged from 61.2 ± 1.2% to 72.3 ± 3.0%, black currant—from 58.9 ± 1.1% to 73.5 ± 1.9%. In the group of red currant varieties, there were no significant differences in viability between varieties after cryopreservation. In the group of black currant varieties, “Chereshneva” and “Georgiy” had lower viability after storage in liquid nitrogen vapors than the others, 61.1% and 58.9%, respectively. On red currant, dry growing conditions of the experiment year significantly decreased the viability after cryopreservation. Neither black nor red currants revealed the influence of the place of harvesting on the survival of cuttings after cryopreservation. These results indicate the possibility of using cryopreservation to preserve cuttings of red and black currant with dormant buds collected in regions with different climatic environments.