Maintaining viability of white clover under very high pressure

The high pressure technique developed in physics may give a new possibility if it is applied to a biological study. We have been studying the tolerance of small living samples such as planktons and mosses, and found that all of them were alive after exposed to extremely high hydrostatic pressure of 7.5 GPa. This technique has been extended to a higher plant Trifolium lepens L. (white clover). A few seeds of white clover were exposed to 7.5 GPa for up to 6 days. After the pressure was released, they were seeded on agar, or directly on sowing soil. Seventeen out of the total 22 seeds exposed to the high pressure were found to be alive. Those exposed for up to 1 day and seeded on agar germinated roots. Those exposed for up to 1 h and seeded on soil germinated stems and leaves. The present technique has the possibility of being applied to improve breed of plants and to discover a very strong species that stands against very severe environmental conditions. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4726241]