Proline biosynthesis in winter plants due to exposure to low temperatures

Abstract

The content of bound proline sharply increased in proteins of different organs of young plants of winter rape and winter wheat exposed for 72 h to temperatures from 0 to 2 °C while it decreased only in root tips of wheat plants. Free proline which at 20 °C occurs in all plant organs only in trace amounts, accumulated considerably after 72 h exposure to low temperatures in the above-ground organs and only slightly in the roots. Free proline did not accumulate during the first 24 h at 0 to 2 °C in detached leaves of winter wheat but it was incorporated into newly synthetized proteins in which proline content increased after 6 h incubation to its maximum ( + 11.75% in comparison to control); the content of free glutamate sharply decreased during the first 6 h of incubation and the accumulation of bound glutamate was belated in comparison to that of bound proline. Sucrose infiltrated into detached leaves of winter wheat strongly stimulated proline incorporation into proteins at low temperatures, but it did not influence glutamate incorporation. The results suggest that the main reason for thede novo proline biosynthesis during the first six hours of hardening of the plants is the synthesis of proteins rich in proline; free proline accumulates later predominantly in the above-ground organs as a surplus. The above-ground organs are dehydrated in the course of the hardening process approximately to the same extent both in the light and in the dark, but proline content increases much less in the dark than in tho light.