Synthetic seed technology in ornamental plants.

Synthetic seed technology is today an important tool, available to breeders and scientists, for the in vitro propagation and conservation of ornamental plants. After an introduction on the main procedures for synseed preparation, this chapter provides information on the protocols that have been developed for the encapsulation of various explants (zygotic and somatic embryos, axillary buds, nodal segments, protocorms and bulblets) from ornamental species (trees, shrubs and cut flowers). Original results about the germinability and the average time of germination from 7 ornamental species are also presented. The chapter ends with a review of papers dealing with the application of the synthetic seed technology to the slow growth storage and the cryopreservation of ornamental plant germplasm.