Skip to main content
PMC home page
Plant Physiology logoLink to Plant Physiology
. 1995 Oct;109(2):697–706. doi: 10.1104/pp.109.2.697

Cold Hardening of Spring and Winter Wheat and Rape Results in Differential Effects on Growth, Carbon Metabolism, and Carbohydrate Content.

V M Hurry 1, A Strand 1, M Tobiaeson 1, P Gardestrom 1, G Oquist 1
PMCID: PMC157638  PMID: 12228623

Abstract

The effect of long-term (months) exposure to low temperature (5[deg]C) on growth, photosynthesis, and carbon metabolism was studied in spring and winter cultivars of wheat (Triticum aestivum) and rape (Brassica napus). Cold-grown winter rape and winter wheat maintained higher net assimilation rates and higher in situ CO2 exchange rates than the respective cold-grown spring cultivars. In particular, the relative growth rate of spring rape declined over time at low temperature, and this was associated with a 92% loss in in situ CO2 exchange rates. Associated with the high photosynthetic rates of cold-grown winter cultivars was a 2-fold increase per unit of protein in both stromal and cytosolic fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase activity and a 1.5- to 2-fold increase in sucrose-phosphate synthase activity. Neither spring cultivar increased enzyme activity on a per unit of protein basis. We suggest that the recovery of photosynthetic capacity at low temperature and the regulation of enzymatic activity represent acclimation in winter cultivars. This allow these overwintering herbaceous annuals to maximize the production of sugars with possible cryoprotective function and to accumulate sufficient carbohydrate storage reserve to support basal metabolism and regrowth in the spring.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (1.1 MB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Anchordoguy T. J., Rudolph A. S., Carpenter J. F., Crowe J. H. Modes of interaction of cryoprotectants with membrane phospholipids during freezing. Cryobiology. 1987 Aug;24(4):324–331. doi: 10.1016/0011-2240(87)90036-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Azcón-Bieto J. Inhibition of photosynthesis by carbohydrates in wheat leaves. Plant Physiol. 1983 Nov;73(3):681–686. doi: 10.1104/pp.73.3.681. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Galtier N., Foyer C. H., Huber J., Voelker T. A., Huber S. C. Effects of Elevated Sucrose-Phosphate Synthase Activity on Photosynthesis, Assimilate Partitioning, and Growth in Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum var UC82B). Plant Physiol. 1993 Feb;101(2):535–543. doi: 10.1104/pp.101.2.535. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Gerhardt R., Stitt M., Heldt H. W. Subcellular Metabolite Levels in Spinach Leaves : Regulation of Sucrose Synthesis during Diurnal Alterations in Photosynthetic Partitioning. Plant Physiol. 1987 Feb;83(2):399–407. doi: 10.1104/pp.83.2.399. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Holaday A. S., Martindale W., Alred R., Brooks A. L., Leegood R. C. Changes in Activities of Enzymes of Carbon Metabolism in Leaves during Exposure of Plants to Low Temperature. Plant Physiol. 1992 Mar;98(3):1105–1114. doi: 10.1104/pp.98.3.1105. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Hurry V. M., Huner N. P. Low growth temperature effects a differential inhibition of photosynthesis in spring and winter wheat. Plant Physiol. 1991 Jun;96(2):491–497. doi: 10.1104/pp.96.2.491. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Hurry V. M., Malmberg G., Gardestrom P., Oquist G. Effects of a Short-Term Shift to Low Temperature and of Long-Term Cold Hardening on Photosynthesis and Ribulose-1,5-Bisphosphate Carboxylase/Oxygenase and Sucrose Phosphate Synthase Activity in Leaves of Winter Rye (Secale cereale L.). Plant Physiol. 1994 Nov;106(3):983–990. doi: 10.1104/pp.106.3.983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Koster K. L., Lynch D. V. Solute Accumulation and Compartmentation during the Cold Acclimation of Puma Rye. Plant Physiol. 1992 Jan;98(1):108–113. doi: 10.1104/pp.98.1.108. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Olien C. R. Energies of freezing and frost desiccation. Plant Physiol. 1974 May;53(5):764–767. doi: 10.1104/pp.53.5.764. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Sage R. F., Sharkey T. D. The Effect of Temperature on the Occurrence of O(2) and CO(2) Insensitive Photosynthesis in Field Grown Plants. Plant Physiol. 1987 Jul;84(3):658–664. doi: 10.1104/pp.84.3.658. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Sonnewald U., Brauer M., von Schaewen A., Stitt M., Willmitzer L. Transgenic tobacco plants expressing yeast-derived invertase in either the cytosol, vacuole or apoplast: a powerful tool for studying sucrose metabolism and sink/source interactions. Plant J. 1991 Jul;1(1):95–106. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-313x.1991.00095.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Sonnewald U. Expression of E. coli inorganic pyrophosphatase in transgenic plants alters photoassimilate partitioning. Plant J. 1992 Jul;2(4):571–581. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Stitt M. Limitation of Photosynthesis by Carbon Metabolism : I. Evidence for Excess Electron Transport Capacity in Leaves Carrying Out Photosynthesis in Saturating Light and CO(2). Plant Physiol. 1986 Aug;81(4):1115–1122. doi: 10.1104/pp.81.4.1115. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. von Schaewen A., Stitt M., Schmidt R., Sonnewald U., Willmitzer L. Expression of a yeast-derived invertase in the cell wall of tobacco and Arabidopsis plants leads to accumulation of carbohydrate and inhibition of photosynthesis and strongly influences growth and phenotype of transgenic tobacco plants. EMBO J. 1990 Oct;9(10):3033–3044. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1990.tb07499.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Plant Physiology are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

RESOURCES