Amidic and Acetonic Cryoprotectants Improve Cryopreservation of Volvocine Green Algae

A number of volvocalean green algae species were subjected to a two-step cryopreservation protocol with various cryoprotectants. Potential cryoprotectants were methanol (MeOH), N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), N,N-dimethylacetamide, N-methylformamide, and hydroxyacetone (HA). We confirmed prior reports that MeOH was effective for cryopreserving Chlamydomonas, but did not work well for larger volvocaleans such as Volvox. In contrast, DMF and HA were effective for both unicellular and multicellular representatives. When we used a cold-inducible transposon to probe Southern blots of Volvox DNA samples taken before and after storage for one month in LN, we could detect no differences, indicating that the genome had remained relatively stable and that the transposon had not been induced by the cryopreservation procedure. We believe these methods will facilitate long-term storage of several volvocine algal species, including Volvox strains harboring transposon-induced mutations of developmental interest.