Abstract
To elucidate the effects of exogenous salicylic acid (SA) treatment on the cold resistance of peach flower, the floral organs of two peach cultivars were treated with 20 mg/L SA and stored at 0°C for observation and sample collection. Water application was the control. After a treatment period, the anther relative water content of the control and SA-treated flowers decreased. The extent of the reduction was greater in the control, suggesting that the SA treatment significantly helped to maintain the anther water content of peach. Analysis of the stigma relative electric conductivity revealed that the SA treatment prevented membrane injury during the low temperature treatment. Additionally, we measured CBF gene expression at low temperature in the petal, stigma and ovary. The expression was markedly upregulated in the cold-treated floral organs. CBF gene expression after SA treatment was higher than in the control when cold conditions continued. These results suggest that the effects of SA on ameliorating the freezing injury to peach floral organs and on enhancing cold tolerance may be associated with the induction of CBF gene. https://doi.org/10.2298/ABS160816002Z Received: August 16, 2016; Revised: November 9, 2016; Accepted: December 14, 2016; Published online: January 13, 2017 How to cite this article: Zhang B, Ma R, Guo L, Song Z, Yu M. Effects of exogenous salicylic acid on physiological traits and CBF gene expression in peach floral organs under freezing stress. Arch Biol Sci. 2017;69(4):585-92.
Highlights
Plants grown in nature often face environmental stresses such as drought, salt, freezing, which are the most important factors limiting growth and productivity [1,2,3]
The freezing stress caused serious damage to the floral organs of flowers that were treated with water only
This study reports the positive effects of salicylic acid (SA) treatment on the maintenance of normal physiology and enhanced the cold resistance of peach floral organs during cold storage
Summary
Plants grown in nature often face environmental stresses such as drought, salt, freezing, which are the most important factors limiting growth and productivity [1,2,3]. Low temperature is one of the most harmful, especially in the early spring during the florescence of many horticultural crops [4,5]. Freezing injuries to these crops (apple, apricot, peach, etc.) represent a major economic loss in many countries. In China, regional low temperature extremes have occurred intermittently in recent years on the lower Yangtze River in the early spring [7]. These low temperatures can last half a month. A significant relationship between the activity of antioxidant enzymes and H2O2 metabolism have been reported [19], it is still unclear how SA affects plant metabolism through gene expression and molecular mechanisms under low temperature conditions in peach
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