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Plant and Microbe Adaptations to Cold

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A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Physiology and Metabolism".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 January 2023) | Viewed by 36951

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Ryozo Imai

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Guest Editor

Division of Applied Genetics, Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, NARO, Tsukuba 3058634, Japan
Interests: freezing and chilling stress on plants; plant–microbe interaction; genome editing

Dr. Gabor Galiba

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor

1. Agricultural Institute, Centre for Agricultural Research ELKH, Brunszvik Str. 2, H-2462 Martonvásár, Hungary
2. Department of Agronomy, Hungarian University of Agricultural and Life Sciences, GEORGIKON Campus, Deák F. u. 16., 8360 Keszthely, Hungary
Interests: freezing stress on cereals; light regulation of cold acclimation; cold and light signaling; plant hormones

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the current climate change era, plants are likely to be impacted more than ever by temperature fluctuations. With global warming, there are many emerging factors that threaten the sustainability of agriculture and ecosystems. According to a report by the European Environment Agency (ISSN 1977-8449), a warming of the climate is expected to result in an earlier start of the growing season in spring and a longer duration in autumn. The date of the last frost in spring is projected to advance by about 5–10 days by 2030 and by 10–15 days by 2050 throughout most of Europe. A longer growing season may also increase the spread of weeds, insect pests, and diseases. Higher temperatures, which are more marked in winter than in summer, lead to increasing winter damage to grasslands and winter cereals. Melting snow and loss of snow cover, followed by low freezing temperatures, cause ice encasement and frost damage. Plant pests and diseases are also becoming more abundant. Following the vegetative-to-generative transition, cereals are not able to re-acclimate to cold. Consequently, the risk of frost damage will increase significantly during early spring when a frost spell can appear at any time until April. Breaking the genetic linkage between freezing tolerance and the vegetative phase will be an important task in the near future.

Adaptation to cold environments remains one of the main research topics in plant science. This topic has been discussed in a series of international conferences entitled “Plant and Microbe Adaptations to cold (PMAC)”. Unfortunately, the meeting has been deferred indefinitely since it last convened in Seattle in 2016. However, the demand for interdisciplinary discussion to solve the complex issues associated with cold adaptations worldwide has lead us to think about a novel alternative discussion platform to holding a conventional conference. Open-access journals are a way to bring the latest research outcomes to a broad range of readers, as opposed to just specialized researchers. Special issues of journals can be a collection of otherwise dispersed information and enhance intensive discussion on the issues of focus. We therefore decided to open a Special Issue focused on plant and microbe adaptations to cold in the journal Plants. This Special Issue will accept papers from a broad scope of interdisciplinary research on plant and microbial adaptations to cold environments, ranging from basic molecular biology to breeding. Ecological and meteorological studies in this area fall within the scope. Original research papers, methods, reviews, and perspectives are also welcome.

Dr. Ryozo Imai
Dr. Gabor Galiba
Guest Editors

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Keywords

breeding
chilling stress
cold acclimation
cold-induced genes/proteins
freezing stress
gene regulation
genetics
light regulation and signaling
plant hormones
plant-microbe interaction
signal transduction
snow mold
winter hardening

Published Papers (13 papers)

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19 pages, 1331 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Effect of White Light Spectrum Modifications by Excess of Blue Light on the Frost Tolerance, Lipid- and Hormone Composition of Barley in the Early Pre-Hardening Phase

by Mohamed Ahres, Tamás Pálmai, Terézia Kovács, László Kovács, Jozef Lacek, Radomira Vankova, Gábor Galiba and Péter Borbély

Plants 2023, 12(1), 40; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/plants12010040 - 22 Dec 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1544

Abstract

It is well established that cold acclimation processes are highly influenced, apart from cold ambient temperatures, by light-dependent environmental factors. In this study we investigated whether an extra blue (B) light supplementation would be able to further improve the well-documented freezing tolerance enhancing effect of far-red (FR) enriched white (W) light. The impact of B and FR light supplementation to white light (WFRB) on hormone levels and lipid contents were determined in winter barley at moderate (15 °C) and low (5 °C) temperatures. Low R:FR ratio effectively induced frost tolerance in barley plantlets, but additional B light further enhanced frost hardiness at both temperatures. Supplementation of WFR (white light enriched with FR light) with B had a strong positive effect on abscisic acid accumulation while the suppression of salicylic acid and jasmonic acid levels were observed at low temperature which resembles the shade avoidance syndrome. We also observed clear lipidomic differences between the individual light and temperature treatments. WFRB light changed the total lipid content negatively, but monogalactosyldiacylglycerol (MGDG) content was increased, nonetheless. Our results prove that WFRB light can greatly influence phytohormone dynamics and lipid contents, which eventually leads to more efficient pre-hardening to avoid frost damage. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant and Microbe Adaptations to Cold)

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16 pages, 1599 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Role of Lipids of the Evergreen Shrub Ephedra monosperma in Adaptation to Low Temperature in the Cryolithozone

by Vasiliy V. Nokhsorov, Svetlana V. Senik, Valentina E. Sofronova, Ekaterina R. Kotlova, Alexander D. Misharev, Nadezhda K. Chirikova and Lyubov V. Dudareva

Plants 2023, 12(1), 15; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/plants12010015 - 20 Dec 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1491

Abstract

Lipids are the fundamental components of cell membranes and they play a significant role in their integrity and fluidity. The alteration in lipid composition of membranes has been reported to be a major response to abiotic environmental stresses. Seasonal dynamics of membrane lipids in the shoots of Ephedra monosperma J.G. Gmel. ex C.A. Mey. growing in natural conditions of permafrost ecosystems was studied using HPTLC, GC-MS and ESI-MS. An important role of lipid metabolism was established during the autumn-winter period when the shoots of the evergreen shrub were exposed to low positive (3.6 °C), negative (−8.3 °C) and extremely low temperatures (−38.4 °C). Maximum accumulation of phosphatidic acid (PA), the amount of which is times times greater than the sum of phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine (PC + PE) was noted in shoots of E. monosperma in the summer-autumn period. The autumn hardening period (3.6 °C) is accompanied by active biosynthesis and accumulation of membrane lipids, a decrease of saturated 34:1 PCs, 34:1 PEs and 34:1 PAs, and an increase in unsaturated long-chain 38:5 PEs, 38:6 PEs, indicating that the adaptation of E. monosperma occurs not at the level of lipid classes but at the level of molecular species. At a further decrease of average daily air temperature in October (−8.3 °C) a sharp decline of PA level was registered. At an extreme reduction of environmental temperature (−38.4 °C) the content of non-bilayer PE and PA increases, the level of unsaturated fatty acids (FA) rises due to the increase of C18:2(Δ9,12) and C18:3(Δ9,12,15) acids and the decrease of C16:0 acids. It is concluded that changes in lipid metabolism reflect structural and functional reorganization of cell membranes and are an integral component of the complex process of plant hardening to low temperatures, which contributes to the survival of E. monosperma monocotyledonous plants in the extreme conditions of the Yakutia cryolithozone. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant and Microbe Adaptations to Cold)

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21 pages, 4875 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Understanding and Comprehensive Evaluation of Cold Resistance in the Seedlings of Multiple Maize Genotypes

by Xiaoqiang Zhao, Cai Zhao, Yining Niu, Wun Chao, Wei He, Yifan Wang, Taotao Mao and Xiaodong Bai

Plants 2022, 11(14), 1881; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/plants11141881 - 20 Jul 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2428

Abstract

Maize is a cold-sensitive crop, and it exhibits severe retardation of growth and development when exposed to cold snaps during and right after seedling emergence. Although different agronomic, physiological, and molecular approaches have been tried to overcome the problems related to cold stress in recent years, the mechanisms causing cold resistance in maize are still unclear. Screening and breeding of varieties for cold resistance may be a sustainable option to boost maize production under low-temperature environments. Herein, seedlings of 39 different maize genotypes were treated under both 10 °C low temperature and 22 °C normal temperature conditions for 7 days, to assess the changes in seven growth parameters, two membrane characteristics, two reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, and four antioxidant enzymes activities. The changes in ten photosynthetic performances, one osmotic substance accumulation, and three polyamines (PAs) metabolisms were also measured. Results indicated that significant differences among genotypes, temperature treatments, and their interactions were found in 29 studied traits, and cold–stressed seedlings were capable to enhance their cold resistance by maintaining high levels of membrane stability index (66.07%); antioxidant enzymes activities including the activity of superoxide dismutase (2.44 Unit g⁻¹ protein), peroxidase (1.65 Unit g⁻¹ protein), catalase (0.65 μM min⁻¹ g⁻¹ protein), and ascorbate peroxidase (5.45 μM min⁻¹ g⁻¹ protein); chlorophyll (Chl) content, i.e., Chl a (0.36 mg g⁻¹ FW) and Chl b (0.40 mg g⁻¹ FW); photosynthetic capacity such as net photosynthetic rate (5.52 μM m⁻² s⁻¹) and ribulose 1,5–biphosphate carboxylase activity (6.57 M m⁻² s⁻¹); PAs concentration, mainly putrescine (274.89 nM g⁻¹ FW), spermidine (52.69 nM g⁻¹ FW), and spermine (45.81 nM g⁻¹ FW), particularly under extended cold stress. Importantly, 16 traits can be good indicators for screening of cold–resistant genotypes of maize. Gene expression analysis showed that GRMZM2G059991, GRMZM2G089982, GRMZM2G088212, GRMZM2G396553, GRMZM2G120578, and GRMZM2G396856 involved in antioxidant enzymes activity and PAs metabolism, and these genes may be used for genetic modification to improve maize cold resistance. Moreover, seven strong cold–resistant genotypes were identified, and they can be used as parents in maize breeding programs to develop new varieties. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant and Microbe Adaptations to Cold)

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8 pages, 1529 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Apoplastic Defensin of Wheat Elicits the Production of Extracellular Polysaccharides in Snow Mold

by Ayako Isobe, Chikako Kuwabara, Michiya Koike, Keita Sutoh, Kentaro Sasaki and Ryozo Imai

Plants 2021, 10(8), 1607; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/plants10081607 - 05 Aug 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1601

Abstract

TAD1 (Triticum aestivum defensin 1) is a plant defensin specifically induced by low temperature in winter wheat. In this study, we demonstrated that TAD1 accumulated in the apoplast during cold acclimation and displayed antifungal activity against the pink snow mold fungi Microdochium nivale. When M. nivale was treated with TAD1, Congo red-stainable extracellular polysaccharides (EPS) were produced. The EPS were degradable by cellulase treatment, suggesting the involvement of β-1,4 glucans. Interestingly, when the fungus was treated with FITC-labeled TAD1, fluorescent signals were observed within the EPS layer. Taken together, these results support the hypothesis that the EPS plays a role as a physical barrier against antimicrobial proteins secreted by plants. We anticipate that the findings from our study will have broad impact and will increase our understanding of plant–snow mold interactions under snow. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant and Microbe Adaptations to Cold)

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8 pages, 863 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Relationship between WCS120 Protein Family Accumulation and Frost Tolerance in Wheat Cultivars Grown under Different Temperature Treatments

by Pavel Vítámvás, Ilja Tom Prášil, Jan Vítámvás and Miroslav Klíma

Plants 2021, 10(6), 1114; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/plants10061114 - 31 May 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1992

Abstract

Frost tolerance (FT) is generally acquired after exposure of plants to low, but non-freezing temperatures, where it is associated with the accumulation of COR proteins. The aim of the study was to reveal the effect of different temperature treatments (25, 17, 9 and 4 °C) on accumulation of cold-regulated dehydrins, dry weight content, and the development of FT in five wheat cultivars of different frost-tolerances in detail. The levels of cold-regulated dehydrins, WCS120 proteins in wheat were determined by immunoblot analysis, probed with an anti-dehydrin antibody. The lower the growth temperature: the higher the level of frost tolerance, dry weight content, and dehydrin accumulation, in all cultivars. There was a significant correlation between the level of induced FT and the accumulation of WCS120 proteins in cultivars grown at lower temperatures (9 and 4 °C). Moreover, the highly frost-tolerant wheat cultivars (as opposed to the lower-tolerant) accumulated higher levels of WCS120 proteins at 17 °C, a temperature at which it was not possible to differentiate between them via a frost test. Here, we demonstrated the possibility to distinguish differently frost-tolerant cultivars grown at different temperatures by the accumulation of different members of WCS120 family. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant and Microbe Adaptations to Cold)

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20 pages, 4245 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Polymorphism in the Chloroplast ATP Synthase Beta-Subunit Is Associated with a Maternally Inherited Enhanced Cold Recovery in Cucumber

by Madeline W. Oravec and Michael J. Havey

Plants 2021, 10(6), 1092; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/plants10061092 - 29 May 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2736

Abstract

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) is a warm-season crop that is sensitive to chilling temperatures and a maternally inherited cold tolerance exists in the heirloom cultivar ‘Chipper’ (CH). Because the organelles of cucumber show differential transmission (maternal for chloroplast and paternal for mitochondrion), this cold tolerance is hypothesized to be chloroplast-associated. The goal of this research was to characterize the cold tolerant phenotype from CH and determine its genetic basis. Doubled haploid (DH) lines were produced from CH and cold susceptible cucumbers, reciprocal hybrids with identical nuclear genotypes were produced, and plants were subjected to cold treatments under lights at 4 °C for 5.5 h. Hybrid plants with CH as the maternal parent had significantly higher fresh and dry weights 14 days after cold treatment compared to the reciprocal hybrid, revealing an enhanced cold recovery phenotype maternally conferred by CH. Results from analyses of the nuclear transcriptome and reactive oxygen species (ROS) between reciprocal hybrids were consistent with the cold recovery phenotype. Sequencing of the chloroplast genome and transcriptome of the DH parents and reciprocal hybrids, respectively, revealed one maternally transmitted non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the chloroplast F₁F_O-ATP synthase (CF₁F_O-ATPase) beta-subunit gene (atpB) of CH which confers an amino acid change from threonine to arginine. Protein modeling revealed that this change is located at the interface of the alpha- and beta-subunits in the CF₁F_O-ATPase complex. Polymorphisms in the CF₁F_O-ATPase complex have been associated with stress tolerances in other plants, and selection for or creation of polymorphic beta-subunit proteins by chloroplast transformation or gene editing could condition improved recovery from cold stress in plants. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant and Microbe Adaptations to Cold)

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14 pages, 2241 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Influence of Extremely Low Temperatures of the Pole of Cold on the Lipid and Fatty-Acid Composition of Aerial Parts of the Horsetail Family (Equisetaceae)

by Vasiliy V. Nokhsorov, Lyubov V. Dudareva, Svetlana V. Senik, Nadezhda K. Chirikova and Klim A. Petrov

Plants 2021, 10(5), 996; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/plants10050996 - 17 May 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2217

Abstract

The lipid composition of two species of vascular plants, Equisetum variegatum Schleich. ex. Web. and E. scirpoides Michx., growing in the permafrost zone (Northeastern Yakutia, the Pole of Cold of the Northern Hemisphere), with average daily air temperatures in summer of +17.8 °C, in autumn of +0.6 °C, and in winter of −46.7 °C, was comparatively studied. The most significant seasonal trend of lipid composition was an accumulation of PA in both horsetail species in the autumn–winter period. Cold acclimation in autumn was accompanied by a decrease in the proportion of bilayer-forming lipids (phosphatidylcholine in the non-photosynthetic membranes and MGDG in photosynthetic membranes), an increase in the desaturation degree due to the accumulation of triene fatty acids (E. scirpoides), and an accumulation of betaine lipids O-(1,2-diacylglycero)-N,N,N-trimethylhomoserine (DGTS). The inverse changes in some parameters were registered in the winter period, including an increase in the proportion of “bilayer” lipids and decrease in the unsaturation degree. According to the data obtained, it can be concluded that high levels of accumulation of membrane lipids and polyunsaturated FAs (PUFAs), as well as the presence of Δ5 FAs in lipids, are apparently features of cold hardening of perennial herbaceous plants in the cryolithozone. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant and Microbe Adaptations to Cold)

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15 pages, 2018 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Carbohydrate Accumulation and Differential Transcript Expression in Winter Wheat Lines with Different Levels of Snow Mold and Freezing Tolerance after Cold Treatment

by Erika B. Kruse, Samuel Revolinski, Jesse Aplin, Daniel Z. Skinner, Timothy D. Murray, Charles G. Edwards and Arron H. Carter

Plants 2020, 9(11), 1416; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/plants9111416 - 23 Oct 2020

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2232

Abstract

Winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) undergoes a period of cold acclimation in order to survive the ensuing winter, which can bring freezing temperatures and snow mold infection. Tolerance of these stresses is conferred in part by accumulation of carbohydrates in the crown region. This study investigates the contributions of carbohydrate accumulation during a cold treatment among wheat lines that differ in their snow mold tolerance (SMT) or susceptibility (SMS) and freezing tolerance (FrT) or susceptibility (FrS). Two parent varieties and eight recombinant inbred lines (RILs) were analyzed. The selected RILs represent four combinations of tolerance: SMT/FrT, SMT/FrS, SMS/FrT, and SMS/FrS. It is hypothesized that carbohydrate accumulation and transcript expression will differ between sets of RILs. Liquid chromatography with a refractive index detector was used to quantify carbohydrate content at eight time points over the cold treatment period. Polysaccharide and sucrose content differed between SMT and SMS RILs at various time points, although there were no significant differences in glucose or fructose content. Glucose and fructose content differed between FrT and FrS RILs in this study, but no significant differences in polysaccharide or sucrose content. RNAseq was used to investigate differential transcript expression, followed by modular enrichment analysis, to reveal potential candidates for other mechanisms of tolerance, which included expected pathways such as oxidative stress, chitinase activity, and unexpected transcriptional pathways. These differences in carbohydrate accumulation and differential transcript expression begin to give insight into the differences of wheat lines when exposed to cold temperatures. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant and Microbe Adaptations to Cold)

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13 pages, 1496 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Temperature and Light-Quality-Dependent Regulation of Freezing Tolerance in Barley

by Mohamed Ahres, Krisztián Gierczik, Ákos Boldizsár, Pavel Vítámvás and Gábor Galiba

Plants 2020, 9(1), 83; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/plants9010083 - 09 Jan 2020

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 3448

Abstract

It is established that, besides the cold, incident light also has a crucial role in the cold acclimation process. To elucidate the interaction between these two external hardening factors, barley plantlets were grown under different light conditions with low, normal, and high light intensities at 5 and 15 °C. The expression of the HvCBF14 gene and two well-characterized members of the C-repeat binding factor (CBF)-regulon HvCOR14b and HvDHN5 were studied. In general, the expression level of the studied genes was several fold higher at 5 °C than that at 15 °C independently of the applied light intensity or the spectra. The complementary far-red (FR) illumination induced the expression of HvCBF14 and also its target gene HvCOR14b at both temperatures. However, this supplementation did not affect significantly the expression of HvDHN5. To test the physiological effects of these changes in environmental conditions, freezing tests were also performed. In all the cases, we found that the reduced R:FR ratio increased the frost tolerance of barley at every incident light intensity. These results show that the combined effects of cold, light intensity, and the modification of the R:FR light ratio can greatly influence the gene expression pattern of the plants, which can result in increased plant frost tolerance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant and Microbe Adaptations to Cold)

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14 pages, 774 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of Freezing on Photosystem II and Assessment of Freezing Tolerance of Tea Cultivar

by Yun-Long Shi, Zhuo-Yu Cai, Da Li, Jian-Liang Lu, Jian-Hui Ye, Yue-Rong Liang and Xin-Qiang Zheng

Plants 2019, 8(10), 434; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/plants8100434 - 22 Oct 2019

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 5890

Abstract

Freezing tolerant tea cultivars are urgently needed. The tea cultivars with highly freezing tolerance showed resistance to freezing stress induced photoinhibition. Freezing sensitivity index (H) of 47 tea clonal cultivars was investigated after severe freezing winter in 2016. To develop instrumental methods for freezing tolerance selection, the maximum photochemical efficiency of photosystem II (PSII) (Fv/Fm) and leaf color indicator a on the Hunter color scale were determined on control group (non-frozen) and frozen group (being frozen at −15 °C for 2 h and then stood at 20 °C for 5 h) of the cultivars. When the two indicators were expressed as the ratios (R_Fv/Fm and R_a) of frozen group to control group, linear regression of the freezing sensitivity index (H) upon the R_Fv/Fm and R_a produced significant relationship respectively, i.e., H = 60.31 − 50.09 R_Fv/Fm (p < 0.01) and H = 30.03 − 10.82 R_a (p < 0.01). Expression of gene psbA encoding D1 protein and gene psbD encoding D2 protein in PSII showed that the frezzing tolerant tea cultivars maintained a high expression level of psbA after freezing stress, which is considered to be beneficial to de novo synthesis of D1 protein and sustaining PSII activity. These findings can provide instrumental tools for assessing freezing tolerance of tea cultivars in tea breeding program. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant and Microbe Adaptations to Cold)

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Review

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38 pages, 2278 KiB

Open AccessReview

The Breeding of Winter-Hardy Malting Barley

by Eric J. Stockinger

Plants 2021, 10(7), 1415; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/plants10071415 - 11 Jul 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3378

Abstract

In breeding winter malting barley, one recurring strategy is to cross a current preferred spring malting barley to a winter barley. This is because spring malting barleys have the greatest amalgamation of trait qualities desirable for malting and brewing. Spring barley breeding programs can also cycle their material through numerous generations each year—some managing even six—which greatly accelerates combining desirable alleles to generate new lines. In a winter barley breeding program, a single generation per year is the limit when the field environment is used and about two generations per year if vernalization and greenhouse facilities are used. However, crossing the current favored spring malting barley to a winter barley may have its downsides, as winter-hardiness too may be an amalgamation of desirable alleles assembled together that confers the capacity for prolonged cold temperature conditions. In this review I touch on some general criteria that give a variety the distinction of being a malting barley and some of the general trends made in the breeding of spring malting barleys. But the main objective of this review is to pull together different aspects of what we know about winter-hardiness from the seemingly most essential aspect, which is survival in the field, to molecular genetics and gene regulation, and then finish with ideas that might help further our insight for predictability purposes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant and Microbe Adaptations to Cold)

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11 pages, 825 KiB

Open AccessReview

Fructan Structure and Metabolism in Overwintering Plants

by Midori Yoshida

Plants 2021, 10(5), 933; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/plants10050933 - 07 May 2021

Cited by 23 | Viewed by 3662

Abstract

In northern regions, annual and perennial overwintering plants such as wheat and temperate grasses accumulate fructan in vegetative tissues as an energy source. This is necessary for the survival of wintering tissues and degrading fructan for regeneration in spring. Other types of wintering plants, including chicory and asparagus, store fructan as a reserve carbohydrate in their roots during winter for shoot- and spear-sprouting in spring. In this review, fructan metabolism in plants during winter is discussed, with a focus on the fructan-degrading enzyme, fructan exohydrolase (FEH). Plant fructan synthase genes were isolated in the 2000s, and FEH genes have been isolated since the cloning of synthase genes. There are many types of FEH in plants with complex-structured fructan, and these FEHs control various kinds of fructan metabolism in growth and survival by different physiological responses. The results of recent studies on the fructan metabolism of plants in winter have shown that changes in fructan contents in wintering plants that are involved in freezing tolerance and snow mold resistance might be largely controlled by regulation of the expressions of genes for fructan synthesis, whereas fructan degradation by FEHs is related to constant energy consumption for survival during winter and rapid sugar supply for regeneration or sprouting of tissues in spring. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant and Microbe Adaptations to Cold)

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13 pages, 579 KiB

Open AccessReview

COR/LEA Proteins as Indicators of Frost Tolerance in Triticeae: A Comparison of Controlled versus Field Conditions

by Klára Kosová, Miroslav Klíma, Ilja Tom Prášil and Pavel Vítámvás

Plants 2021, 10(4), 789; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/plants10040789 - 16 Apr 2021

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2439

Abstract

Low temperatures in the autumn induce enhanced expression/relative accumulation of several cold-inducible transcripts/proteins with protective functions from Late-embryogenesis-abundant (LEA) superfamily including dehydrins. Several studies dealing with plants grown under controlled conditions revealed a correlation (significant quantitative relationship) between dehydrin transcript/protein relative accumulation and plant frost tolerance. However, to apply these results in breeding, field experiments are necessary. The aim of the review is to provide a summary of the studies dealing with the relationships between plant acquired frost tolerance and COR/LEA transcripts/proteins relative accumulation in cereals grown in controlled and field conditions. The impacts of cold acclimation and vernalisation processes on the ability of winter-type Triticeae to accumulate COR/LEA proteins are discussed. The factors determining dehydrin relative accumulation under controlled cold acclimation treatments versus field trials during winter seasons are discussed. In conclusion, it can be stated that dehydrins could be used as suitable indicators of winter survival in field-grown winter cereals but only in plant prior to the fulfilment of vernalisation requirement. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant and Microbe Adaptations to Cold)

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