Simple vitrification protocol for cryopreservation of oil palm using embryogenic culture

Friable embryogenic tissue (FET) of oil palm was successfully cryopreserved by vitrification. After preconditioning the tissue on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 0.25 M sucrose for 7 days, FET was dehydrated for 60 min at 0°C with a highly concentrated vitrification solution (PVS2) and plunged directly into liquid nitrogen gave the highest percentage of somatic embryo (SE) formation at 66.77, fresh weight at 177.5 mg and number of SE at 2.33 SE/clumps. SE at haustorium stage from different treatment were detected their uniformity using SSR technique with primer EgCIR008. The results showed that DNA profiles were unique and no polymorphism between cryopreserved explants and controls, suggesting that cryopreservation using vitrification does not affect genetic stability of oil palm.