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Modification of the intracellular sugar content alters the incidence of freeze‐induced membrane lesions of protoplasts isolated from Arabidopsis thaliana leaves
Author(s) -
UEMURA M.,
STEPONKUS P. L.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
plant, cell and environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.646
H-Index - 200
eISSN - 1365-3040
pISSN - 0140-7791
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-3040.2003.01033.x
Subject(s) - sucrose , incubation , sorbitol , protoplast , sugar , incubation period , lysis , biology , glycerol , substrate (aquarium) , horticulture , chemistry , biochemistry , botany , ecology
Sugar content and freezing tolerance of protoplasts of Arabidopsis thaliana leaves were manipulated by incubating seedlings in a sucrose solution before protoplast isolation. Incubation in a 400 m M sucrose solution at 2 °C in the dark increased their freezing tolerance equivalent to that achieved after a conventional cold acclimation at 2 °C. The increased freezing tolerance was due to a decrease in the incidence of freeze‐induced lesions: expansion‐induced lysis (EIL) between −2 and −4 °C and loss of osmotic responsiveness (LOR) between −5 and −12 °C. The concentration of sucrose in the incubation medium required to minimize the incidence of the lesions was substantially different: 10–35 m M for EIL and 30–400 m M for LOR. Incubation in the sucrose solution at 23 °C decreased LOR only at −5 and −6 °C but less than that incubated at 2 °C, and there was no effect on EIL. Incubation in sorbitol solutions at 2 °C also decreased LOR at −5 and −6 °C but much less than in the sucrose solution. These results suggest that low concentrations of sucrose act as a metabolic substrate for the low‐temperature‐induced alterations required for the amelioration of EIL and, at higher concentrations, sucrose has a direct cryoprotective effect to minimize LOR.