Histology of maize seeds and young germinating embryos after liquid nitrogen exposure

Maize represents a staple food crop and is the second most important agricultural commodity globally. Considering role of maize for security, long-term conservation valuable germplasm critical to ensure that high levels genetic diversity are available breeding superior cultivars face future challenges. Cryopreservation regarded as appropriate tool preservation has been investigated in different crops. This short communication adds existing knowledge on cryopreservation by describing histological changes observed seeds young germinating embryos after liquid nitrogen (LN) exposure. Plants were examined immediately recovery from LN (day zero) following 3 days germination. At day 3, exposed showed lower germination rates than non-cryostored seeds, i.e., 60.7% vs. 83.3%. Histological evaluation at revealed thickness conical endosperm scutellum did not show any statistically significant differences between control cryopreserved seeds. In contrast, other evaluations made, mostly regarding mesocarp, mealy endosperm, plumule, radicle epidermis, cryostored with former consistently displaying higher average values latter.