%0 Journal Article
%T Seed Cryopreservation of Some Medicinal Legumes
%A Alla B. Kholina
%A Nina M. Voronkova
%J Journal of Botany
%D 2012
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2012/186891
%X Seed survival after storage in liquid nitrogen (¨C196¡ãC) was examined in 12 wild medicinal legume species occurred Far East of Russia. Dry seeds of all species survived cryostorage without loss of viability. Initial germinability varied from 3 to 85%. The stimulatory effect of cryogenic temperature on germination, with or without subsequent chemical scarification, was observed in all species studied with deep physical dormancy or heterogeneous levels of hardseededness. Frozen seeds demonstrated higher germination percentages (the percentage of germinated seeds) and germination rates (time for first seed to germinate (T0) and time required (in days) to reach 50% of the final germination percentage (T50)) than the control ones. The anomalous seedlings were not observed after storage of seeds in liquid nitrogen. This study shows that cryostorage may be successfully applied for conservation of native species without detrimental effects on germination and growth. 1. Introduction Fabaceae family is the one of the richest families of Russian Far-Eastern flora, and it includes a lot of valuable medicinal plants. The set of Far-Eastern legume species arouse particular interest due to pharmaceutical properties. Astragalus membranaceus (Fisch.) Bge., a herbaceous perennial, inhabits the western to northern part of China, Korea, and Japan. This herb is one of the important medicinal plants used as an adaptogenic in China, Korea, and Japan [1]; compounds from A. membranaceus roots may be utilized as immunostimulants, tonics, diuretics, antidiabetics, and sedatives [2]. Hedysarum austrokurilense (N.S. Pavlova) N.S. Pavlova and H. sachalinense B. Fedtsch. are perennial herb species endemic to the Sakhalin Island and South Kuril Islands [3]. The chemical components found in the plants of both related species include flavonoids, xanthones-mangiferin and isomangiferin, and polysaccharides many of them are of interest for traditional and modern medicines [4]. A lot of representatives of the genus Oxytropis have attracted attention thanks to the wide use in Tibetan and Mongolian medicine and also in folk medicines of Siberia and central Asia as the effective drugs [5]. The plants of some Oxytropis species are the richest in an alkaloid content [6], and alkaloid from O. ochrocephala has antitumor activity [7]; one can suppose that other Oxytropis species (O. chankaensis Jurtz., O. kamtschatica Hult., O. ochotensis Bunge, O. revoluta Ledeb., and O. retusa Matsum.) have also valuable bioactive substances. Sophora flavescens Soland., a perennial shrub, has been used in the
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jb/2012/186891/