Using Cryopreservation to Increase the Conservation Capacity of the Hawaiian Rare Plant Program

The Hawaiian Rare Plant Program (HRPP) uses ex-situ conservation technologies to safeguard endangered native Hawaiian plants from extinction. The HRPP is located at Lyon Arboretum, a University of Hawaii research unit, and is comprised of the Micropropagation Lab, Seed Conservation Lab, and Rare Plant Greenhouse. Each component of the HRPP plays a critical role in meeting the ex-situ conservation needs of each species, either seed storage for orthodox species or tissue culture for recalcitrant and exceptional species. The Rare Plant Greenhouse facilitates the transition of vegetative material from the Seed Conservation Lab and Micropropagation Lab, to out-planting in the wild. Between the departments of the HRPP, 385 endangered taxa are currently being held in ex-situ storage. To conserve more species and increase the capacity and longevity of the current collection, cryopreservation has been integrated into the HRPP. Currently, most of the cryopreservation work has been done with the tissue culture collection held in the Micropropagation Lab. This allows for a more space and cost-efficient method for the long-term storage of exceptional species compared to traditional tissue culture. Cryopreservation protocols for several species from tissue culture have been developed and more are currently in progress. Further cryopreservation research will be expanded to represent recalcitrant and freeze-sensitive seeds to increase the longevity of short-lived seeds in the Seed Conservation Lab.