• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.162-167
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• 1991

In an attempt to explore the mechanistic aspects of chilling injury in plants and their defensive measures against the low temperature stress, the time sequential measurements of pyruvate, superoxide radicals$(O_{\overline{2}})$ and antioxygenic enzymes during whole period of injury-inducing treatment were performed using mostly rice seedlings. Pyruvate was substantialy accumulated in leaf tissues during the exposure period to $5^{\circ}C$ of the seedlings ; the relative extent of the accumulation was increased with increasing time of the cold treatment. When the cold-treated plants were translocated to ambient temperature$({\sim}25^{\circ}C)$, the accumulation started to dissipate, concomitantly accompaning a remarkable increase in the $O_{\overline{2}}$ level of tissues. Superoxide dismutase(SOD) and catalase were also activated during post-chilling period, although they showed a considerable lag time for activation. In contrast, glutathione peroxidase, another antioxygenic enzyme in cells, was not activated at all by preceding cold treatment of plants. The uptake of exogenous $O_{\overline{2}}$ by the roots of rice seedlings resulted in increase in the activities of SOD and catalase in root tissues. The supply of $H_2O_2$ to plan st brought about the activation of catalase in situ, while failing to exert any effect on the activation state of glutathione peroxidase. The results obtained in this work suggest that pyruvate accumulation in cells is the direct cause of the overproduction of $O_{\overline{2}}$ and thereby other toxic activated oxygen species, and that SOD and catalase may play a crucial role in the protection of plant cells against active oxygen-mediated chilling injury.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.168-173
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• 1991

The uptake of $Mn^{+2}$, a metal cofactor Mn-SOD, by rice seedings resulted in not only a substantial increase in SOD activity in leaf tissues of the plants, but also a significant enhancement of their cold tolerance : the relative extent of the cold tolerance appeared to accord with relative level of the SOD activity. In contrast, $Fe^{+3},\;Cu^{+2}$ and $Zn^{+2}$, which are the cofactors of Fe-SOD and Cu/Zn-SOD, were found to be ineffective for increasing the SOD activity as well as for improving the chilling-resistant capacity of the plants. The results suggest that Mn-SOD, which is most likely induced by its substrate(superoxide) and activated by the presence of $Mn^{+2}$a at high level, is the enzyme acting as an active component of the defense system against low temperature stress in rice plants. In addition, the application of abscisic acid which has been know to protect to some extent certain plants from chilling injury brought about an increase in SOD activity in rice tissues, providing another affirmative information for the crucial role of SOD under the circumstance of cold stress in plants.