The development of juvenile plants of the hybrid orchid Bratonia after seed cryopreservation.

The development of juvenile plants of hybrid Bratonia orchid in vitro after seed storage in liquid nitrogen and the effect of nutrient medium composition on protocorm multiplication and plant regeneration were investigated. Cryopreservation did not inhibit the germination rate of seeds. Protocorms derived from cryopreserved seeds developed faster than protocorms from control (unfrozen) seeds during the first 45 days. But during further culturing, this tendency was not retained and finally protocorms from cryopreserved seeds had the same size as control ones. There were no significant differences in leaf number and shoot length between juvenile plants derived from unfrozen and cryopreserved seeds. We found that among four tested media liquid Morel medium was the most preferable for protocorm multiplication, and liquid ?S medium with half-strength macronutrients was the best one for the development of juvenile plants.