Watermelon [Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai] is one of the Cucurbitaceae species and subtropical crops that exhibit chilling injury (CI) when exposed to low temperatures. Watermelon seedlings were tested for chilling tolerance using methods modified from cucumber. Three experiments were conducted using different combinations of chilling durations of 6, 12, 24, or 36 hours and chillin...

A study was conducted to investigate the effect of chilling method (air or immersion) on concentration and prevalence of Escherichia coli, coliforms, Campylobacter, and Salmonella recovered from broiler chicken carcasses. For each of four replications, 60 broilers were inoculated orally and intracloacally with 1 ml of a suspension containing Campylobacter at approximately 10(8) cells per ml. Af...

The possible involvement of polyamines (PAs) in the chilling tolerance of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L. cv Jinchun No. 3 and cv Suyo) was investigated. Plants with the first expanded leaves were exposed to 3 degrees C or 15 degrees C in the dark for 24 h (chilling), and then transferred to 28 degrees C/22 degrees C under a 12-h photoperiod for another 24 h (rewarming). Chilling-tolerant cv Jinch...

It has been indicated that photosystem I (PSI) is susceptible to chilling-light stress in tobacco leaves, but the effect of growth light intensity on chilling-induced PSI photoinhibition in tobacco is unclear. We examined the effects of chilling temperature (4°C) associated with moderate light intensity (300 μmol photons m(-2) s(-1)) on the activities of PSI and photosystem II (PSII) in leaves ...

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is often exposed to cool temperatures during spring planting in temperate climates. A better understanding of genetic pathways regulating chilling tolerance will enable breeders to develop varieties with improved tolerance during germination and young seedling stages. To dissect chilling tolerance, five assays were developed; one assay for the germination stage, one assay...

Chilling at 4 degrees C in the dark induced lipid degradation in cucumber (Cucumis sativa L.) fruit upon rewarming at 14 degrees C. Rates of ethane evolution by fruits rewarmed after 3 days of chilling were up to four-fold higher than those evolved by unchilled (14 degrees C) fruits (0.02-0.05 picomoles gram fresh weight(-1) hour(-1)). This potentiation of lipid peroxidation occurred prior to i...

Exposure to a chilling temperature of 2.5 degrees C for 96 h inhibited the subsequent growth of cucumber seedling radicles at 25 degrees C by 92%. Exposing seedling with 5 +/- 1 mm long radicles to acetaldehyde vapour (275 micro l l(-1)) or to an aqueous ethanol solution (0.6 M) for 2 h, or to 45 degrees C for 10 min before chilling, increased chilling tolerance so that the chilling treatment r...

Chilling at 2.5 C accelerated the synthesis of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) and C(2)H(4) production in cucumber fruit. Skin tissue contained higher levels of ACC and was more sensitive to chilling than was cortex tissue. Accumulation of ACC in chilled tissue was detected after 1 day of chilling and remained elevated even after C(2)H(4) production started to decline. These data su...

Microbiological sampling of processed broiler carcasses often relies on the technique of whole-carcass rinsing; however, the rinse sampling is sometimes done immediately after immersion chilling and sometimes as long as 24 h after immersion chilling. To test whether carcass rinses done immediately after chilling can be compared with rinses 24 h after chilling, 20 whole broiler carcasses exiting...

Susceptibility to chilling injury prevents the cultivation of many important crops and limits the extended storage of horticultural commodities. Although freezing tolerance is acquired through cold-induced gene expression changes mediated in part by the CBF family of transcriptional activators, whether plant chilling resistance or sensitivity involves the CBF genes is not known. We report here ...