Preserving Viability and Fertility of Tomato and Egg Plant Pollen in Liquid Nitrogen

Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill cv. ‘Arka Saurabh’) & Egg plant (Solanum melongena L. cv. ‘Arka Kusumakar’) pollen cryopreserved over extended durations remained viable after retrieval from a cryopreserved state, inducing fruit and seed set equivalent to controls. Studies carried out at the experimental farm of IIHR showed that pollen stored under cryogenic conditions for a duration of 6 years could be successfully utilized by the breeder concerned, to produce seeds in the absence of fresh pollen normally collected during the current season. Varietal crosses involving frozen pollen did not deteriorate in their performance and capability to induce viable seed among the fruits set. In vitro pollen germination profiles though recorded, a considerable decline in egg plant does not appear to reflect the true performance potential of frozen pollen in the field. However, in tomato, in vitro pollen germination results appear to be in good fit with the results obtained using stored pollen in field pollinations. From this study it was concluded that it is advantageous to preserve pollen of these crops over extended durations in liquid nitrogen, since pollen retains its capability to fertilize and induce normal seed set. The study also establishes the fact that pollen preservation for genetic conservation in these crops could be accomplished, besides other conventional methods of germplasm storage involving seeds.