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Understanding Chilling Tolerance Traits Using Arabidopsis Chilling-Sensitive Mutants

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Environmental Adaptations and Stress Tolerance of Plants in the Era of Climate Change

Abstract

Many plants of tropical and subtropical origin are severely damaged when exposed to chilling temperatures between 2 and 15°C. In contrast, the cruciferous plant Arabidopsis thaliana is chilling tolerant and, therefore provides an alternative model plant system for the identification of chilling tolerance traits. In this chapter, we describe physiological, biochemical, and molecular responses of Arabidopsis class 1 chilling-sensitive (chs) mutants to low temperatures. These mutants, including chs1, chs2 and chs3, are extremely chilling-sensitive and wilt and turn yellow in just a few days after transfer to low temperatures of 4–13°C. Overall, following exposure to chilling, class 1 chs mutants suffer from: (1) loss of chlorophyll and decrease in photosynthetic efficacy resulting in lack of starch accumulation, (2) damage to cellular membranes resulting in increased electrolyte leakage, and (3) accumulation of the reactive oxygen species (ROS) hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). At the molecular level, transcriptome analysis studies following exposure to 10°C for 48 h using the Affymetrix ATH1 genome array reveal remarkable changes in expression patterns of between 1,500 and 3,000 genes, which are significantly differentially expressed (p≤ 0.05 and up- or down-regulated by a factor of at least 4) in chs1, chs2, and chs3 mutants compared to wild-type (WT) plants. The main functional categories of up-regulated genes by chilling include “stress,” “protein,” and “signaling,” whereas the main categories down-regulated by chilling were “photosynthesis,” “tetrapyrrole synthesis,” “carbohydrate metabolism,” “cell wall,” and “lipid metabolism”. Overall, these and other studies using Arabidopsis chilling-sensitive mutants allow the recognition of major genetic traits crucial for plant survival under chilling conditions.

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Acknowledgements

This chapter is a contribution from the Agricultural Research Organization, the Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, Israel, no. 597/10.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Postharvest Sciences of Fresh Produce, ARO, the Volcani Center, 6, Bet Dagan, 50250, Israel

    Dana Zoldan & Ron Porat

  2. Department of Environmental Horticulture, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA

    Reza Shekaste Band & Charles L. Guy

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  1. Dana Zoldan
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  2. Reza Shekaste Band
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  3. Charles L. Guy
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  4. Ron Porat
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Correspondence to Ron Porat .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. A.S. College, Department of Botany, University of Kashmir, Srinagar, 190008, India

    Parvaiz Ahmad

  2. , Department of Plant Sciences, University of Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad, 500046, India

    M.N.V. Prasad

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Zoldan, D., Band, R.S., Guy, C.L., Porat, R. (2012). Understanding Chilling Tolerance Traits Using Arabidopsis Chilling-Sensitive Mutants. In: Ahmad, P., Prasad, M. (eds) Environmental Adaptations and Stress Tolerance of Plants in the Era of Climate Change. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-0815-4_7

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