Contact

                 Room 05-058, Biological and Conservation

                 Science Building, Westville Campus 

                       Tel:  +27 31 2608657

                       Fax: +27 31 2601195

                       E-mail: 991240844@stu.ukzn.ac.za

BSc Honours: The role of lipid peroxidation and maillard reactions in ageing of soybean seeds

MSc (cum laude): Some investigations towards the cryopreservation of sugarcane germplasm

Current Phd: The post-thawing responses of plant tissues to cryopreservation

Details of current research:

The aims of the current research is to study the changes in growth on transfer from in vitro to ex vitro conditions, of plants derived from cryopreserved embryonic axes, compared with those from fresh (unfrozen) axes.

The cryopreservation process involves numerous steps such as cryoprotection, partial dehydration, exposure to cryogenic temperatures, thawing and rehydration, recovery on appropriate in vitro germination medium, and finally, hardening-off and re-introduction. Each of these steps could potentially influence/affect post-thaw growth, and are currently being individually investigated. The stresses imposed by each of these steps causes considerable biochemical perturbation, and possibly epigenetic changes in plants recovered from cryopreservation.

The possibility of epigenetic changes is also being investigated in the four different plant species involved in this study. Since these changes are reversible, plants recovered after each stage of the cryo-process right through to the hardening-off phase are being screened for possible epigenetic changes. The effects of using cathodic water as an anti-oxidant to counteract free radical generation during the cryo-process is also being observed. Furthermore, the young plants that are recovered from cryostorage are being hardened-off for epigenetic assessment and their responses to stress.