Abstract
Plant cells or tissues are usually pre-cultured for enhancement of desiccation tolerance and/or encapsulated in gel such as arginate beads when the materials are cryopreserved in liquid nitrogen by desiccation method. We successfully cryopreserved suspension cells without any pre-culture or encapsulating in gel substance by desiccation method. Suspension cultured cells of Pogonatum inflexum and Polytichum commune were desiccated rapidly or slowly and cryopresrved. Pogotatum cells were successfully cryopreserved in liquid nitrogen at a high survival rate whichever the desiccation rate. Polytrichum cells were also cryoprederved successfully and showed a high survival rate. But most Polytrichum cells were dead when they were desiccated rapidly. The qualitative differences in desiccation tolerance between Pogonatum and Polytrichum cells were associated with the speed of dehydration.
