Deacclimation may be crucial for winter survival of cereals under warming climate

Deacclimation after cold acclimation—a crucial, but widely neglected part of plant winter survival

“…Rapacz et al (2017) performed field studies at 11 sites during three consecutive years and found that the rate of deacclimation was independent of cold acclimation ability. Instead, deacclimation under natural conditions appeared to be a crucial determinant for winter survival.…”

“…Deacclimation may also be linked to vernalization, as shown for two Festuca pratensis populations with high and low vernalization requirements (Ergon et al , 2016). The rate of deacclimation may depend on the degree of cold-acclimated freezing tolerance, as shown for different accessions of Arabidopsis (Zuther et al , 2015) and annual bluegrass (Hoffman et al , 2014), while such a dependence is not found in cereals (Rapacz et al , 2017). In Arabidopsis, natural variation in deacclimation rate is linked to the plastid antioxidant system, where a lower expression of the corresponding genes under cold conditions in freezing-sensitive accessions results in an extended maintenance of H 2 O 2 levels during deacclimation.…”

“…While considerable efforts have been directed toward understanding how plants cold acclimate and adapt to low temperature at the physiological and molecular level, research on deacclimation is still limited, although there is increasing evidence that the low-temperature range limits of many plant species are not set by the absolute minimum temperature in winter. Rather, the autumn and spring temperatures that determine cold acclimation and deacclimation, respectively, may be decisive in shaping the cold-range limits (Vitasse et al , 2014; Rapacz et al , 2017; Vitra et al , 2017). The rate and timing of deacclimation are therefore key determinants of survival, in particular during early spring when plants undergo the transition to growth and development.…”

Modes of Brassinosteroid Activity in Cold Stress Tolerance

“…The rising temperatures result in prolonged growing seasons, which delays cold hardening in fall and accelerates de-hardening in spring, increasing the potential for damage when early or late frosts occur (Rigby and Porporato, 2008;Augspurger, 2013;Hatfield and Prueger, 2015). Even in winter de-hardening could occur when temperatures rise periodically (Rapacz et al, 2017). Breeding for optimized cold stress tolerance may contribute to a possible solution, but has been mostly unsuccessful, as cold stress tolerance is usually correlated with impaired growth.…”

Agrobiodiversity for Adaptive and Yield Traits in Romanian and Italian Barley Cultivars across Four Continental Environments

“…Moreover, the exposure of plants to low non-freezing temperatures is essential for acclimation of cereals (hardening) which is necessary for winter survival. Plants can also suffer from freezing stress when de-acclimation occurs because of the warmer climate background [6]. Furthermore, low temperatures are determinant for the success of cultivation influencing growth, heading date and, consequently, yield and quality of products.…”