Winter chilling is of central importance in the phenology of temperate annual and perennial plants. Chilling accelerates flowering through the process of vernalization and breaks both bud and seed dormancy, permitting the onset of growth in the spring. The quantitative effects of chilling in floral promotion in winter annual Arabidopsis accessions are well-documented, but very little is known a...

The scarcity of C4 plants in cool climates is usually attributed to their lower photosynthetic efficiency than C3 species at low temperatures. However, a lower freezing resistance may also decrease the competitive advantage of C4 plants by reducing canopy duration, especially in continental steppe grasslands, where a short, hot growing season is bracketed by frost events. This paper reports an ...

The effect of evaporative air chilling on quality of fresh chicken carcasses was compared with air chilling as reference method. Cooling efficiency and total heat loss were significantly higher for evaporative air chilling. The chilling method was of great importance for weight loss. Chicken chilled in cold air lost considerably more weight than chicken cooled by evaporative air chilling; the d...

Cottonseed exposed to a temperature of 5 degrees during hydration are killed, or the subsequent germination performance of surviving seed is seriously inhibited. Exposure to chilling for periods as short as 30 minutes reduces germination speed and induces root abnormalities, while chilling for 12 hours may kill all seed. Sensitivity to chilling persists during the initial 2 to 4 hours of hydrat...

To elucidate how physiological and biochemical mechanisms of chilling stress are regulated by abscisic acid (ABA) pretreatment, pepper variety (cv. 'P70') seedlings were pretreated with 0.57 mM ABA for 72 h and then subjected to chilling stress at 10°/6°C (day/night). Chilling stress caused severe necrotic lesions on the leaves and increased malondialdehyde and H(2)O(2) levels. Activities of mo...

Salicylic acid (SA) plays an important role in plant response to abiotic stresses. This study investigated the potential role of SA in alleviating the adverse effects of chilling stress on photosynthesis and growth in watermelon (Citrullus lanatus). Chilling stress induced the simultaneous accumulation of free and conjugated SA in watermelon plants, and the chilling-induced SA production was at...