| ABSTRACT Conservation of plant genetic resources is important to prevent genetic erosion. Seed banks are the most common method of ex situ conservation; however, coffee seeds can not be stored by conventional methods. Cryopreservation is a viable alternative for long-term conservation of species that produce intermediate or recalcitrant seeds, as coffee. The aim of this work was to cryopreserve Coffea arabica L. cv Catuaí Vermelho IAC 144 zygotic embryos, and analyse the effects of dehydration prior cryopreservation and osmotic rehydration after thawing, in embryos germination and seedlings formation after cryopreservation. Prior to cryopreservation, different dehydration times (0, 15, 30, 60 and 120 min) were tested. Dehydrated embryos were cryopreserved... |
