Work

Relationships of Cold Acclimation and Antioxidative Enzymes with Chilling Tolerance in Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.)

Year: 2003

Type: article

Abstract: To determine whether chilling tolerance is related to cold acclimation, changes in physiological responses and activity of antioxidative enzymes were investigated in leaves of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) grown in controlled environments. Plants were exposed to 15 °C (cold-acclimated) or 25 °C (nonacclimated) for 3 days, under 50 μmol·m-2·s-1 photosynthetic photon flux and 70% relative humidity. Plants were then exposed to 8 °C chilling temperature for 3 days, and allowed to recover in a growth chamber at 25 °C for 3 days. Measurements of leaf water content, cellular leakage, lipid peroxidation, chlorophyll a fluorescence, and quantum yield showed that cold-acclimated leaves were less affected by chilling compared to nonacclimated leaves. Cold-acclimated leaves recovered faster than nonacclimated leaves with regard to all variables examined. Catalase and ascorbate peroxidase activities were induced in cold-acclimated leaves, but not in nonacclimated leaves. These data indicate that cold acclimation increased chilling tolerance of cucumber in association with antioxidative enzymes.

Source: Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science

DOI: 10.21273/jashs.128.5.661