Temperature-Induced Leakage from Chilling-Sensitive and Chilling-Resistant Plants

Abstract

Leakage rates were determined from leaf cells loaded with rubidium and I'Hlleucine. There was a differential response between leucine and rubidium leakage depending upon the species used. The rate of leucine leakage shows a small decline below 5 C for two altitudinal variants of Lycopersicon hirsutum Humb. and Bonpl., whereas Lycopersicon escudentum L. showed a marked increase below 5 C. Rubidium showed a marked increase in leakage rate below 10 C with the altitudinal variants, with only a slight increase for the L escuientum species. A rough relationship existed between rubidium leakage rate at 1 C and the altitude of origin of the L hirsutum race, the low altitudinal forms having higher leakage rates than the higher altitudinal variants. The L esculentum lines show a rubidium leakage response similar to that of the high altitude L. hirsutum variants. Higher leakage rates were obtained if the calcium concentration in the medium was less than 1 millimolar and upon addition of metabolic poisons and detergents.The results are consistent with the view that chilling injury causes changes in the membrane and that cell leakage is an early symptom of this change in some species. Some chilling-sensitive species have increased leakage within 1 hour of exposure to chilling temperature.Changes in the physical state of membranes at chilling temperatures are thought to be responsible for the increased leakage of cell electrolytes from the tissue of chilling-sensitive plants (8,9). Liebermann et aL (7) found 5 times as much potassium leakage from sweet potato roots after 10 weeks storage at chilling temperatures. There was also enhanced leakage of electrolytes from leaf tissue (3,11,19) and fruit tissue (16) at chilling temperatures. The results of Tatsumi and Murata (16) showed that fruit pitting, a symptom of chilling injury, was visible after 5 days whereas leakage did not increase until the 7th day. This indicated that the injury was localized and the assay not sensitive enough to detect the earlier leakage changes that were visually apparent. Using narrow (1 x 3 mm) leaf strips which would avoid this problem, Patterson et al. (11) found two phases of ion leakage at 0 C: a relatively slow initial phase, followed by a rapid loss of most of the electrolyte. In the most chilling-sensitive Passiflora species used, the two phases could not be separated.

Heat treatment of ripening apples: Differential effects on physiology and biochemistry

“…Electrolyte leakage increases during ripening as well as under stress conditions (Wade and Bishop 1978, Leopold et al 1981, Paull 1981. It is possible that the increased leakage at 38°C was due to heat stress, since permeability properties of the membranes recovered when apples were placed at 20°C…”

Chilling-induced potassium leakage of cultured citrus cells

“…The inference from these time-course observations is that the observed increase in K* leakage is a symptom of CI or death of cells and not a change in membrane permeability due directly to chilling temperatures. Chilling temperatures have been shown to induce electrolyte leakage from tissues of several chillingsensitive plants (Lieberman et al 1958, Murata and Tatsumi 1979, Patterson et al 1976, Paull 1981. The chilling duration and temperature required to cause an increase in electrolyte leakage is correlated with the chilling sensitivity of a plant tissue Tatsumi 1979, Patterson et al 1976).…”

“…The chilling duration and temperature required to cause an increase in electrolyte leakage is correlated with the chilling sensitivity of a plant tissue Tatsumi 1979, Patterson et al 1976). Highly sensitive tissues such as tomato leaves show increased rates of [^H]leucine and **Rb leakage within hours of chilling (Paull 1981), whereas less sensitive tissues such as sweet potato roots take several weeks to show an increased leakage response (Lieberman et al 1958, Murata andTatsumi 1979). CI of grapefruit callus tissue developed when it was held at 0°C.…”

Post-harvest preservation of roses cv. Ipanema

“…The parameters evaluated in this study are very important for the quality of roses, since the turgescence is necessary for the development of flower buds and for the continuity of the metabolic activity in the cut flower. Darkness may be related to water stress (Paull 1981) or low carbohydrate concentration (Reid 2004) and stems curvature probably occurs due to the presence of bacteria that block xylem vessels and hinder the flow of water (Witte and Van Doorn 1988).…”