Cryopreservation of plant tissues in liquid nitrogen is now used for long-term conservation of vegetatively-propagated crops. Development of standard techniques for cryopreservation is important to the international plant-conservation community for successful implementation of storage protocols in diverse and internationally dispersed laboratories. Evaluation of the critical points of each preservation technique will greatly assist in developing and validating internationally-used cryopreservation protocols. The goals of this project were to assess critical points of two major cryopreservation techniques (PVS2 vitrification and encapsulation dehydration) during their transfer to international laboratories; analyze post-storage viability for each technique and location; and develop recommendations based on the assessments and data from the participating laboratories. Investigators from Germany, Kazakhstan, Poland and UK participated in a 2-week training workshop in cryopreservation methods after which the techniques were tested in the home laboratories of the participants. After one-year site visits by the technology trainers identified critical points in the protocols. Critical points were identified as 1) Cryogenic (cryoprotection, LN exposure, rewarming); 2) Non-cryogenic (plant health status, pre- and post-storage culture); 3) Operational (skills transfer, training, interpretation of procedures); 4) Facility (growth room, ambient conditions, media preparation, equipment). The most critical factors in all laboratories were culture health, operator skills and experience, and clarification of the technical details of the procedures. Final results showed that correction of critical factors improved the post-storage recovery in all the laboratories.
