• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Potoscience Conference
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• 2002.06a
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• pp.58-58
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• 2002

• Journal of Photoscience
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.39-44
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• 2000

To examine the chilling tolerance lipids, we compared the chilling susceptibility of photosystem II of wild type tobacco plants with that of transgenic tobacco plants, in which the sensitivity to chilling had been enhanced by genetic modification of fatty acid unsaturation of chloroplast membrane lipids. The transgenic tobacco plants were found to contain reduced levels of unsaturated membrane fatty acids by being tansformed with cDNA for glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase from squash. For the purpose of studying on the functional integrity of photosystem II during low-temperature photoinhibition, the photochemical efficiency was measured as the ration of the maximun fluorescence of chlorophyll (Fv/Fm) of photosystem II. In parallel with an investigation on the transgenic plants, susceptibility of chilling-resistant species, such as spinah and pea, and of chilling-sensitive ones, such as squash and sweet potato, to low-temperature photoinhibition was also compared in terms of room temperature-induced chlorophyll fluorescence from photosystem II. When leaf disks from the two genotypes of tobacco plants were exposed to light at 5$^{\circ}C$, the transgenic plants showed more rapid decline in photochemical activity of photosysytme II than wild-type plants. When they were pretreated with lincomycin, an inhibitor of chloroplast-encoded protein synthesis, the extent of photoinhibition was even more accelerated. More impottantly, they showed a comparable extent of photoinhibition in the presence of lincomycin, making a clear contrast to the discrepancy observed in the discrepancy observed in the absence of lincomycin. Restoration of Fv/Fm during recovery from low-temperature photoinhibition occurred more slowly in the transgenic tobacco plants than the wild-type. These findings are discussed in relation to fatty acid unsaturation of membrane phosphatidylglycerol. It appears that the ability of plants to rapidly regenerate the active photosystem II complex from might explain, in part, why chilling-resistant plants can toleratlow-temperature photoinhibition.

• Journal of Photoscience
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 1998

The susceptibility of chilling-resistant spinach plants. and of chilling-sensitive squash plants to photoinhibition was compared in terms of the activity of photosystem II, in relation to the deuce of fatty acid unsaturation of chloroplast membrane lipids. From thylakoid membranes of the plants. monogalactosyl diacylgtycerol, digalactosyl diacylglycerol. sulfoquinovosyt diacylglycerol, and phosphatidylglycerol were seperated as major lipid classes. It was found that the content of cis-unsaturated fatty acids of phosphatidylglycerol was greater by 32% in spinach than that in squash. When leaf disks were exposed to light at 5$\circ$C, 15$\circ$C and 25$\circ$C, photochemical efficiency of photosystem II. measured as the ratio of the variable to the maximum fluorescence of chlorophyll, declined markedly in squash plants, as compared to spinach plants. When leaf disks were exposed to strong light in the presence of lincomycin, an inhibitor of protein synthesis in chloroplasts, photoinhibition was accelerated in the two types of plants. Moreover, lincomycin treatment abolished the differences in the degree of susceptibility to strong light, which had been observed between the two types of plants. When the extent of photoinhibition of photosystem II-mediated electron transport was compared in thylakoid membranes isolated from the two types of plants, there were no differences in the degree of inactivation of photosystem II activity. However, when intact leaf disks were exposed to strong light either at 10$\circ$C or at 25$\circ$C, and then were allowed to recover either at 17$\circ$C or at 25$\circ$C in dim light. chilling-resistant plants such as spinach and pea showed marked recovery from photoinhibition, in contrast to chilling-sensitive plants, such as squash and sweet potato. whose recovery was strongly dependent on the temperature. These findings are discussed in relation to the unsaturation of fatty acids in membrane phosphatidylglycerol. It appears that fatty acid unsaturation of membrane lipids accelerates the recovery of photosystem H from photoinhibition, without affecting the photo-induced inactivation process of photosystem II associated with photoinhibition.

• Journal of Photoscience
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.53-61
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• 1998

Using a squash plant, a chilling-sensitive species, and a spinach plant, a chilling-resistant one, effects of chilling temperature on the photosynthetic machinery were studied in terms of chlorophyll fluorescence. When thylakoid membranes were isolated and subjected to incubation at different temperatures, spinach showed stable photosystem II activity at the low temperature side, in contrast to squash which showed quite severe inactivation at low temperature. When parameters of chlorophyll fluorescence were examined, chilling in darkness did not affect either Fv/Fm or photochemical and non-photochemical quenching, in both types of plants. However, chilling of squash plants under irradiance of medium intensity caused a specific decrease in Fv/Fm accompanied by a decline in energy-dependent quenching. Contrastingly, photosystem li of spinach plants were not much affected by light-chilling. When the pool size of zeaxanthin was examined after exposure to high light at different temperatures, squash plants was shown to have a much lower content of antheraxanthin + zeaxanthin, as compared to spinach plants, during low-temperature photoinhibition. These results suggest that chilling-sensitive plants have low capacity to dissipate excitation energy nonradiatively, when they are exposed to low-temperature photoinhibition, and, as a consequence, more vulnerable to photoinhibitory, damage to the photosynthetic apparatus.

• Proceedings of the Botanical Society of Korea Conference
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• 1999.08a
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• pp.68-82
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• 1999

CHilling tolereance of plants are closely correlated with the degree of fatty acid unsaturation of membrane lipids. We studied the effects of low-temperature photoinhibition on the photochemical efficiency of photosystem II in terms of fatty acid unsaturation of thylakoid membranes lipids isolated from chilling -sensitive plants and chilling -resistant ones. To directly test the chilling tolerance of photosynthetic machinery in relation to membrane lipids, we further compared wild type tobacco plants with that of transgenic tobacco plants, in which the sensitivity to chilling had been enhanced by genetic modification of fatty acid unsaturation of chloroplast membrane lipids. The transgenic tobacco plants were found to contain reduced levels of unsaturated membrane fatty acids after being transformed with cDNA for glycerol-3-phophate acyltransferase from squash. The functional integrity of photosystem II during and recovery of photosynthesis from low-temperature photoinhibition will be discussed in connection with the degree of fatty acid unsaturation of chlorophast membranes lipids.

• BMB Reports
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.398-404
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• 1996

Light-chilling effects were investigated in chilling-sensitive cucumber (Cucumis sativus L. cv. Ilmichungjang) and chilling-resistant pea (Pisum sativum L. cv. Giant) leaf discs in relation to possible damage in D1 protein. In both plants, dark-chilling did not cause any noticeable changes in (Fv)m/Fm and lincomycin did not affect the decrease in (Fv)m/Fm caused by light-chilling. This result suggests that the de novo synthesis of D1 protein did not occur actively during light-chilling. In pea light-chilled for 6 h. the decreased (Fv)m/Fm was partly recovered in the dark, and almost complete recovery was observed in the light. In cucumber light-chilled for 3 h. the reduced (Fv)m/Fm decreased further for the initial 2 h recovery process in the light regardless of the treatment of lincomycin and recovered very slowly. In both plant species, the treatment of lincomycin inhibited the recovery process in the light, but did not significantly inhibit the process in the dark. In cucumber leaves pulse-labeled with $[^{35}S]Met$, the labeled band intensities of isolated pigment-protein complexes were almost the same during the 6 h light-chilling, but significant decreases in band intensities were observed during the 3 h recovery period. This result suggests that the irreversibly damaged D1 protein was degraded during the recovery period. However, no noticeable changes were observed in the pea leaves during the 12 h chilling and 3 h recovery period. The polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the pigment-protein complexes showed that the principal lesion sites of light-chilling were different from those of room temperature photoinhibition.

• Journal of Photoscience
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.9-14
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• 1996

For three cultivars of chilling-sensitive cucumber plants, chilling sensitivity was evaluated in terms of photosynthetic activity using Chl fluorescence techniques. Low-temperature treatment caused a decrease in photosynthetic activities of cucumber leaves, measured as CO$_2$ exchange, as well as the decrease in the stomatal conductance. FR of the three cultivars decreased after chilling for 24 h in light and the extent of decline of F$_R$ was the greatest in 'Chosaeng' cultivar. When these plants were recovered from light-chilling, 'Chosaeng' and 'Samchuk' cultivars did not fully restore the original value of F$_R$ after 24 h of recovery, in contrast to 'Ilmi' cultivar which showed a rather efficient recovery. The results of FR study showed that 'Chosaeng' was most susceptible, whereas Ilmi was most resistant, to chilling among the three cultivars of cucumber plants. When quenching coefficients for chlorophyll fluorescence was analyzed after chilling the cucumber plants for 24 h in light, 'Chosaeng' elicited more rapid declines in the coefficients for photochemical quenching (qQ), non-photochemical quenching (qNP) and energy-dependent quenching (qE) than 'Ilmi' and 'Samchuk'. The implications of these observations are discussed in relation to the growth habits of the respective cultivars in the field. The results showed that measurement of chlorophyll fluorescence was an effective means of screening chilling tolerance of cucumber plants. Furthermore, the study on the chlorophyll fluorescence induction and fluorescence quenching charactersitics showed that low temperature could accelerate inhibition of photosynthesis in chilling-sensitive plants, by limiting Calvin cycle activity and disrupting, in part, the energy dissipation mechanims of the photosystem II.

• Journal of Photoscience
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.33-39
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• 2005

Plants possess the ability to dissipate the excitation energy for the protection of photosynthetic apparatus from absorbed excess light. Heat dissipation is regulated by xanthophyll cycle in thylakoid membranes of chloroplasts. We investigated the mechanistic aspects of xanthophyll cycle-dependent photoprotection against low-temperature photoinhibition in plants. Using barley and rice as chilling-resistant species and sensitive ones, respectively, chilling-induced chlorophyll fluorescence quenching, composition of xanthophyll cycle pigments and mRNA expression of the zeaxanthin epoxidase were examined. Chilled barley plants exhibited little changes in chlorophyll fluorescence quenching either of photochemical or non-photochemical nature and in the photosynthetic electron transport, indicating low reduction state of PS II primary electron acceptor. In contrast to the barley, chilled rice showed a marked decline in those parameters mentioned above, indicating the increased reduction state of PS II primary electron acceptor. In addition, barley plants were shown to have a higher capacity to elevate the pool size of xanthophyll cycle pigments in response to cold stress compared to rice plants. Such species-dependent regulation of xanthophyll cycle activity was correlated with the gene expression level of cold-induced zeaxanthin epoxidase. Chilled rice plants depressed the gene expression of zeaxanthin epoxidase, whereas barley increased its expression in response to cold stress. We suggest that chilling-induced alterations in the pool size of xanthophyll cycle pigments related to its capacity would play an important role in regulating plant's sensitivity to chilling stress.

• Weed & Turfgrass Science
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• v.1 no.4
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• pp.50-56
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• 2012

The objectives of this research were to quantify resistance levels of transgenic rice expressing the bar gene to glutamine synthetase (GS)-inhibiting, and methionine sulfoximine and photosynthesis-inhibiting herbicide, paraquat, and compare the ammonium accumulation, chilling injury, and yield between transgenic and non-transgenic rice. The transgenic rice lines were 45-96-fold more resistant to glufosinate-ammonium than non-transgenic rice. The transgenic rice lines were also 18-fold more resistant to methionine sulfoximine, but was not resistant to paraquat, which has different target site. Glufosinate-ammonium increased the ammonium accumulation in leaves of non-transgenic rice plants, but had minimal or no effect on leaves of transgenic lines. The transgenic lines except for 258, 411, 607 and 608 were more susceptible during chilling and recovery than non-transgenic rice plants. The yield of transgenic lines 142, 144, 258 and 608 was similar or higher than that of non-transgenic rice in pot conditions.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.329-336
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• 2014

As an abiotic stress, chilling stress is one of the major factors limiting plant growth and increasing susceptibility to pathogens. Therefore, enhancing stress tolerance in plants is an important strategy for their survival under unfavorable environmental conditions. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of the exogenous application of salicylic acid (SA) or nitric oxide (NO) on chilling tolerance in pepper seedlings. Pepper (Capsicum annuum L. 'kidaemanbal') seedlings were grown under normal growing conditions ($20/25^{\circ}C$, 15 hours photoperiod, $145{\pm}5{\mu}mol{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$, fluorescence lamps) for 23 days after transplanting. The solution (3 mL) of 1 mM SA and 0.3 mM NO with surfactant triton 0.1% were sprayed two times a week, respectively. Right after the completion of chemical application, seedlings were subjected to chilling condition at $4^{\circ}C$ for 6 hours under dark condition and then the seedlings were recovered at the normal growing conditions for 2 days. In order to assess plant tolerance against chilling stress, growth characteristics, chlorophyll fluorescence (Fv/Fm), and membrane permeability were determined after chilling stress imposition. Total phenolic concentration and antioxidant capacity were measured during the whole experimental period. Disease incidence for pepper bacterial spot and wilt was also analyzed. Pepper seedlings treated with SA or NO were maintained similar dry mass ratio, while the value in control increased caused by chilling stress suggesting relatively more water loss in control plants. Electrolyte leakage of pepper seedlings treated with SA or NO was lower than that of control 2 days after chilling treatment. Fv/Fm rapidly decreased after chilling stress in control while the value of SA or NO was maintained about 0.8. SA increased higher total phenolic concentration and antioxidant capacity than NO and control during chemical treatment. In addition, increase in total phenolic concentration was observed after chilling stress in control and NO treatment. SA had an effect on the reduction of bacterial wilt in pepper seedlings. The results from this study revealed that pre-treatment with SA or NO using foliar spray was effective in chilling tolerance and the reduction of disease incidence in pepper seedlings.