2003/07/01 by M. UEMURA, Matsuo Uemura, Peter L. Steponkus +1 · 2 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Plant Molecular Biology Research #Plant Stress Responses and Tolerance #Polysaccharides and Plant Cell Walls
paper · pdf · doi:10.1046/j.1365-3040.2003.01033.x
openalex publication_date 2003/07/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
ABSTRACT 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.