Although seasonal changes in the freeze-tolerance of third-instar larvae of Eurosta solidaginis have been well documented for the whole organism, the nature of this cold-hardiness at the cellular level has not been examined. Seasonal changes in the survival of fat body cells from E. solidaginis larvae were assessed using fluorescent vital dyes after freezing at -10, -25 or -80 °C for 24 h b...

‘Many insects accumulate polyhydric alcohols, particularly glycerol, sorbitol, and carbohydrates during fall and winter. In the larval hymenopteran Brachon cephi, Salt (11) found glycerol concentrations as high as 5 m and supercooling points as low as -47°C. The production of these substances is correlated with increased cold hardiness in both freezing tolerant and freezing intolerant species. ...

Blueberry cultivars with varying percentages of species ancestry (V. corymbosum L., V. angustifolium Ait., V. ashei Reade, V. darrowi Camp) were assayed in mid-February to determine initial bud hardiness, and rates of deacclimation under constant temperature conditions. The LT50 (the temperature at which 50% lethality occurs) of detached shoots of field-grown plants of ‘Weymouth’, ‘Bluecrop’, ‘...

Adaptation to cold is one of the greatest challenges to forest trees. This process is highly synchronized with environmental cues relating to photoperiod and temperature. Here, we use a candidate gene-based approach to search for genetic associations between 384 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers from 117 candidate genes and 21 cold-hardiness related traits. A general linear model app...

Exposure of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) to various combinations of flooding and freezing stresses induces much greater damage than the individual stresses. Cold-hardened plants flooded for 1 week or exposed to -6 degrees C for 1 week show 100% survival, while survival of plants exposed to both stresses simultaneously is reduced by 20 to 30%, and cold hardiness decreases by several degre...

Pecan [Carya illinoinensis (Wangenh.) C. Koch.] trees were injured by freezing temperatures in Oct. 2000, occurring about 4 weeks before the average first freeze and 6 weeks before the normal killing freeze (less than or equal to –2 °C). Nonbearing and bearing cultivars were rated for injury at four sites the following May. Nonbearing cultivars with little or no damage included ‘Caddo’, ‘Clark ...