Assessments of rooting, vegetative growth, bulb production, genetic integrity and biochemical compounds in cryopreserved plants of shallot

Shallot (Allium cepa var. aggregatum), a small bulb onion, is widely grown in the world. We previously reported a droplet-vitrification for cryopreservation of in vitro-grown shoot tips of shallot genotype ‘10603’. The present study further evaluated rooting, vegetative growth, bulb production and contents of biochemical compounds, as well as genetic stability in cryo-derived plants. The results showed no significant differences in rooting, vegetative growth, bulb production and contents of soluble sugars and flavonols between the cryo- and in vitro-derived plants. Analyses of ISSR and AFLP markers did not detect any polymorphic bands in the cryo-derived plants. These results indicate rooting and vegetative growth ability, biochemical compounds and genetic stability were maintained in cryo-derived plants. The present study provides experimental evidences that support the use of cryopreservation method for long-term preservation of genetic resources of shallots and other Allium species. Rooting, vegetative growth, bulb production, genetic stability and biochemical compounds were maintained in cryopreserved plants of shallot. Our results support use of cryopreservation for long-term preservation of shallot germplasm.