Freezing Tolerance of Lolium multiflorum/Festuca arundinacea Introgression Forms is Associated with the High Activity of Antioxidant System and Adjustment of Photosynthetic Activity under Cold Acclimation.
Though winter-hardiness is a complex trait, freezing tolerance was proved to be its main component. Species from temperate regions acquire tolerance to freezing in a process of cold acclimation, which is associated with the exposure of plants to low but non-freezing temperatures. However, mechanisms of cold acclimation in Lolium-Festuca grasses, important for forage production in Europe, have not been fully recognized. Thus, two L. multiflorum/F. arundinacea introgression forms with distinct freezing tolerance were used herein as models in the comprehensive research to dissect these mechanisms in that group of plants. The work was focused on: (i) analysis of cellular membranes' integrity; (ii) analysis of plant photosynthetic capacity (chlorophyll fluorescence; gas exchange; gene expression, protein accumulation, and activity of selected enzymes of the Calvin cycle); (iii) analysis of plant antioxidant capacity (reactive oxygen species generation; gene expression, protein accumulation, and activity of selected enzymes); and (iv) analysis of Cor14b accumulation, under cold acclimation. The more freezing tolerant introgression form revealed a higher integrity of membranes, an ability to cold acclimate its photosynthetic apparatus and higher water use efficiency after three weeks of cold acclimation, as well as a higher capacity of the antioxidant system and a lower content of reactive oxygen species in low temperature.
['Augustyniak|Adam|A|', 'Pawłowicz|Izabela|I|0000-0002-0790-6599', 'Lechowicz|Katarzyna|K|0000-0003-3173-523X', 'Izbiańska-Jankowska|Karolina|K|', 'Arasimowicz-Jelonek|Magdalena|M|', 'Rapacz|Marcin|M|0000-0003-1071-1159', 'Perlikowski|Dawid|D|0000-0001-5532-5118', 'Kosmala|Arkadiusz|A|0000-0002-1760-1334']
D000064:Acclimatization D031751:Festuca D005615:Freezing D000079425:Genetic Introgression D008129:Lolium D010788:Photosynthesis D010940:Plant Proteins D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species D059467:Transcriptome
freezing tolerance antioxidant system cold acclimation Lolium-Festuca forage grasses photosynthesis