GUS gene remains stable in transgenic citrus callus recovered from cryopreservation

The conservation of transgenic materials is very important, paticularly for their potential future use in crop development. In this study, transgenic callus cultures of 'Newhall' navel orange (Citrus sinensis Osbeck) were cryopreserved by a vitrification method. Transgenic calluses survived cryopreservation and recovered under normal culture conditions. The results of PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) amplification, Southern blotting and SSCP (Single-Strand Conformation Polymorphism) assay showed that the GUS gene was still maintained in the genome of callus cultures recovered from cryopreservation. X-Gluc staining further indicated GUS gene expression in callus cultures recovered from cryopreservation.