The physiological functions of sphingolipids in animals have been intensively studied, while less attention has been paid to their roles in plants. Here, we reveal the involvement of sphingolipid delta8 desaturase (SlSLD) in the chilling resistance of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum cv. Micro-Tom). We used the virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) approach to knock-down SlSLD expression in tomato le...

The responses of two cultivars of soybean (Merr.) to a chilling treatment (4 C for first hour of imbibition) were compared. The germination of cv. Biloxi was unaffected by the treatment, while the germination of cv. Fiskeby was reduced. The phospholipid fatty acids of dry axes of the two cultivars were very similar, and, thus, could not be correlated with their responses to chilling. The fatty ...

Although an association between chilling tolerance and aquaporins has been reported, the exact mechanisms involved in this relationship remain unclear. We compared the expression profiles of aquaporin genes between a chilling-tolerant and a low temperature-sensitive rice variety using real-time PCR and identified seven genes that closely correlated with chilling tolerance. Chemical treatment ex...

Cultivated tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is susceptible to abiotic stresses, including drought and chilling stress, while its wild relative (Solanum habrochaites) exhibits tolerance to many abiotic stresses. Chilling roots to 6°C induces rapid-onset water stress by impeding water movement from roots to shoots. Wild S. habrochaites responds to root chilling by closing stomata and maintaining ...

The effect of rapid air chilling of carcasses, compared to conventional air chilling, and effect of earlier deboning, after rapid air chilling, on colour of pork M semimembranosus was investigated. During and at the end of chilling, compared to conventional chill treatment, carcasses that were rapid chilled had significantly (P < 0.001) lower internal temperature in the deep leg. Rapid chilled ...

Background Field observations and glasshouse studies have suggested links between boron (B)-deficiency and leaf damage induced by low temperature in crop plants, but causal relationships between these two stresses at physiological, biochemical and molecular levels have yet to be explored. Limited evidence at the whole-plant level suggests that chilling temperature in the root zone restricts B u...

BACKGROUND Field observations and glasshouse studies have suggested links between boron (B)-deficiency and leaf damage induced by low temperature in crop plants, but causal relationships between these two stresses at physiological, biochemical and molecular levels have yet to be explored. Limited evidence at the whole-plant level suggests that chilling temperature in the root zone restricts B u...

Temperature-induced changes in the decay of the light-induced proton gradient of chloroplast thylakoids isolated from chilling-resistant and chilling-sensitive plants have been examined. In the presence of N-methylphenazonium methosulfate, the thylakoids isolated from chilling-resistant barley (cv. Kanby) and pea (cv. Alaska) and chilling-sensitive mung bean (cv. Berken) plants showed temperatu...

Although root-to-shoot communication has been intensively investigated in plants under drought, few studies have examined root-to-shoot communication under chilling. Here we explored whether root-to-shoot communication contributes to the chilling-light tolerance of cucumber shoots and clarified the key signal involves in this communication. After leaf discs chilling-light treatment, the photoin...

Plants have varying abilities to tolerate chilling (low but not freezing temperatures), and it is largely unknown how plants such as Arabidopsis thaliana achieve chilling tolerance. Here, we describe a genome-wide screen for genes important for chilling tolerance by their putative knockout mutants in Arabidopsis thaliana. Out of 11,000 T-DNA insertion mutant lines representing half of the genom...