Abstract
Young expanding leaves of Episcia were irreversibly injured after as little as 15 seconds of chilling at 0°C. Chilling damage to the leaves was measured by the decrease of induced chlorophyll fluorescence in vivo. Chilling tolerance increased with leaf age, but even the oldest non-senescing leaves were considerably more sensitive than leaves of chilling intolerant plants such as bean, cucumber and maize. A partial recovery from chilling occurred upon rewarming leaves in which the rate of the rise of induced chlorophyll fluorescence (FR) had decreased by about 80% during chilling, but there was no recovery once FR had fallen by 97%. Both photosystems were damaged in the chilled leaves. A disruption of the function of the reaction centre of photosystem II was indicated by a decrease in the photochemical yield of induced chlorophyll fluorescence (Fv/FM) measured at 77 K and by a reduction of the 687-nm chlorophyll fluorescence emission band at 77 K. A decrease in the 734-nm fluorescence emission band at 77 K indicated impairment to photosystem I. Following chilling at 0°C, there was also inhibition of the photosystem I mediated photooxidation of cytochromef in vivo and of the light-dependent absorbance changes in vivo at 525-nm. Both the fast absorbance changes (attributed to a photoinduced thylakoid membrane potential) and slow (attributed to light-scattering changes indicative of proton-metal cation exchange) were inhibited.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
Abbreviations
- CT:
-
relative chilling tolerance, defined as the time taken for FR in vivo to decrease by 50% at 0°C
- FR :
-
maximal rate of rise of induced chlorophyll flourescence
References
Brand, J. J.: Spectral changes inAnacystis nidulans induced by chilling. Plant Physiol. 59, 970–973 (1977)
Butler, W. L.: Energy distribution in the photochemical apparatus of photosynthesis. Ann. Rev. Plant. Physiol. 29, 345–378 (1978)
Christophersen, J.: Basic aspects of temperature action on microorganisms. In: Temperature and Life (H. Precht, J. Christophersen, H. Hensel & W. Larcher, eds.) Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp. 3–59 (1973)
Hetherington, S. E., N. D. Hallam, &R. M. Smillie: Ultrastructural and compositional changes in chloroplast thylakoids of leaves ofBorya nitida during humidity-sensitive degreening. Aust. J. Plant Physiol, 9, 601–609 (1982)
Hetherington, S. E. & R. M. Smillie: Practical applications of chlorophyll fluorescence in ecophysiology, physiology and plant breeding. Proc. 6th Photosynthesis Congr. (1983) in press
Hetherington, S. E., R. M. Smillie, A. K. Hardacre &H. A. Eagles: Using chlorophyll fluorescencein vivo to measure the chilling tolerances of different populations of maize. Aust. J. Plant Physiol. 10, 247–256 (1983)
Hetherington, S. E., R. M. Smillie, P. Malagamba &Z. Huaman: Heat tolerance and cold tolerance of cultivated potatoes measured by the chlorophyll-fluorescence method. Planta 159, 119–124 (1983)
Jung, E.: Membrane potentials in photosynthesis. Ann. Rev. Plant Physiol. 28, 503–536 (1977)
Kaniuga, Z., B. Sochanowicz, J. Zabek &K. Krzystyniak: Photosynthetic apparatus in chilling-sensitive plants I. Reactivation of Hill reaction activity inhibited on the cold and dark storage of detached leaves and intact plants. Planta 140, 121–128 (1978)
Kislyuk, I. M.: Morphological and functional changes of chloroplasts after cooling of leaves ofCucumis sativus L. In: The Cell and Environmental Temperature (A. S. Troshin, ed.) Pergamon Press, London pp. 59–75 (1963)
Kislyuk, I. M. &M. D. Vas'kovskii: Effect of cooling cucumber leaves on photosynthesis and photochemical reactions. Fiziol. Rast. 19, 813–818 (1972)
Krause, G. H.: The high-energy state of the thylakoid system as indicated by chlorophyll fluorescence and chloroplast, shrinkage. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 292, 715–728 (1973)
Krause, G. H.: Changes in chlorophyll fluorescence in relation to light-dependent cation transfer across thylakoid membranes. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 333, 301–313 (1974)
Levitt, J.: Chilling injury. In: Responses of Plants to Environmental Stress. Academic Press, New York, pp. 30–34 (1972)
Lyons, J. M.: Chilling injury in plants. Annu. Rev. Plant Physiol. 24, 445–466 (1973)
Margulies, M. M.: Effect of cold-storage of bean leaves on photosynthetic reactions of isolated chloroplasts. Inability to donate electrons to photosystem II and relation to manganese content. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 667, 96–103 (1972)
Margulies, M.M. &A. T. Jagendorf: Effect of cold storage of bean leaves on photosynthetic reactions of isolated chloroplasts. Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 90, 176–183 (1960)
Molisch, H.: Untersuchungen über das Erfrieren der Pflanzen. Fischer, Jena, pp 1–73 (1897)
Murphy, C. &J. M. Wilson: Ultrastructural features of chilling-injury inEpiscia reptans. Plant Cell Environ. 4, 261–265 (1981)
Nobel, P. S.: Light-induced changes in the ionic content of chloroplasts inPisum sativum. Biochem. Biophys. Acta 172, 134–143 (1969)
Ono, T.-A. &N. Murata: Chilling susceptibility of the blue-green algaAnacystis nidulans. I. Effect of growth temperature. Plant Physiol. 67, 176–181 (1981)
Ono, T. A. &N. Murata: Chilling susceptibility of the blue-green algaAnacystis nidulans. II. Stimulation of the passive permeability of cytoplasmic membrane at chilling temperatures. Plant Physiol. 67, 182–187 (1981)
Ono, T.-A. &N. Murata: Chilling-susceptibility of the blue-green algaAnacystic nidulans. III. Lipid phase of cytoplasmic membrane. Plant Physiol. 69, 125–129 (1982)
Papageorgiou, G.: Chlorophyll fluorescence: An intrinsic probe of photosynthesis. In: Bioenergetics of Photosynthesis (Govindjee, ed.) Academic Press, New York, pp. 319–371 (1975)
Rhodes, M. J. C. &L. S. C. Wooltorton: Changes in the activity of enzymes of phenylpropanoid metabolism in tomatoes stored at low temperatures. Phytochem. 16, 655–659 (1977)
Rhodes M. J. C. &L. S. C Wooltorton: Changes in the activity of hydroxy cinnamyl CoA: quinate hydroxycinnamyl transferase and in the levels of chlorogenic acid in potatoes and sweet potatoes stored at various temperatures. Phytochem. 17, 1225–1229 (1978)
Sato, N., N. Murata, Y. Miura. &N. Ueta: Effect of growth temperature on lipid and fatty acid compositions in the blue-green algae,Anabaena variabilis andAnacystis nidulans. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 572, 19–28 (1979)
Seible, D.: Ein Beitrag zur Frage der Kälteschäden an pflanzen bei Temperaturen über dem Gefrierpunkt. Beitr. Biol. Pflanz. 26, 289–330 (1939)
Simpson, D. J. &D. von Wettstein: Macromolecular physiology of plastids XIV. Viridis mutants in barley: genetic, fluoroscopic and ultrastructural characterisation. Carlsberg Res. Commun. 45, 283–314 (1980)
Siva, V., K. Rao, J. J. Brand. &J. Myers: Cold shock syndrome inAnacystis nidulans. Plant Physiol. 59, 965–969 (1977)
Smillie, R. M.: The useful chloroplast: a new approach for investigating chilling stress in plants. In: Low Temperature Stress in Crop Plants (J. Lyons, J. K. Raison & D. Graham, eds.) Academic Press, New York, pp. 187–202 (1979)
Smillie, R. M. &G. C. Gibbons: Heat tolerance and heat hardening in crop plants measured by chlorophyll fluorescence. Carlsberg Res. Commun. 46, 395–403 (1981)
Smillie, R. M. &S. E. Hetherington: Stress tolerance and stress-induced injury in crop plants measured by chlorophyll fluorescencein vivo. Chilling, freezing, ice cover, heat and high light. Plant Physiol. 72, 1043–1050 (1983)
Smillie, R. M. & S. E. Hetherington A screening method for chilling tolerance using chlorophyll fluorescencein vivo. Proc. 6th Photosynthesis Congr. (1983) in press
Smillie, R. M, S. E. Hetherington, C. Ochoa &P. Malagamba: Tolerances of wild potato species from different altitudes to cold and heat. Planta 159, 112–118 (1983)
Smillie, R. M. &R. Nott: Assay of chilling injury in wild and domestic tomatoes based on photosystem activity of chilled leaves. Plant Physiol. 63, 796–801 (1979)
Tan, S. C.: Phenylalanine ammonialyase and the phenylalanine ammonia-lyase inactivating system: effects of light, temperature and mineral deficiencies. Aust. J. Plant Physiol. 7, 159–167 (1980)
Thorne, S. W., G., Horvath, A. Kahn &N. K. Boardman: Light-dependent absorption and selective scattering changes at 518 nm in chloroplast thylakoid membranes. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 72, 3858–3862 (1975)
Tsukamoto, Y., T. Ueki, T. Mitsui, T.-A. Ono &N. Murata: Relationship between growth temperature ofAnacystis nidulans and phase transition temperature of its thylakoid membranes. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 602, 673–675 (1980)
Wilson, J. M.: The mechanism of chill- and drought-hardening ofPhaseolus vulgaris leaves. New Phytol. 76, 257–270 (1976)
Wilson J. M.: Leaf respiration and ATP levels at chilling temperatures. New Phytol. 80, 325–334 (1978)
Wilson, J. M.: Drought resistance as related to low temperature stress. In: Low temperature Stress in Crop Plants (J. M. Lyons, D. Graham & J. K. Raison, eds.) Academic Press, New York, pp. 47–65 (1979)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Smillie, R.M. A highly chilling-sensitive angiosperm. Carlsberg Res. Commun. 49, 75–87 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02913967
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02913967