Abstract
A method of preserving actively-growing cultured plant cells through exposure to liquid drying (L-drying)
was examined. In vitro grown cells from a moss species (Pogonatum inflexum) were exposed to L-drying
after washing and resuspending in liquid culture medium with or without trehalose. L-drying itself decreased
survival rapidly with little further effect from temperature of storage, although survival was markedly
improved by addition of trehalose into suspension medium. Cells suspended in medium containing trehalose
survived L-drying at rates comparable to controls. Dropping the trehalose suspended cells on a piece of
aluminum foil before L-drying was important for their subsequent survival through these procedures because
the cells dropped on filter paper did not survived L-drying. Cells prepared by L-drying were successfully
regrown after 4 weeks storage at 5°C. Thus, L-drying method, widely used for preservation of
microorganisms, appears to be a technique which could be used for the preservation of actively-growing
cultured plant cell.
