Enhancing accessibility and conservation of plant tissue samples stored in silica gel, and developing a disaster plan for this collection at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Many specimens in the Royal Botanic Gardens (RBG), Kew Plant Tissue Collection represent rare and endangered species from difficult to access regions of the world, including unique samples from a diversity of taxonomic groups. Whilst storing research materials in individual laboratories during use is accepted practice, it is unsuitable for safe long-term preservation. This paper describes the process for deposition of plant materials into the
tissue collections, best practice in recuration to ensure long-term preservation and storage, and disaster planning.