Abstract
BackgroundThe Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau is experiencing rapid climate warming, which may further affect plant growth. However, little is known about the plant physiological response to climate change.ResultsHere, we select the Kobresia pygmaea, an important perennial Cyperaceae forage, to examine the physiological indices to temperature changes in different growing months. We determined the contents of malondialdehyde, proline, soluble sugars, superoxide dismutase, peroxidation, and catalase activity in leaves and roots of Kobresia pygmaea at 25℃, 10℃, 4℃ and 0℃ from June to September in 2020. The results showed that the content of osmotic adjustment substances in the leaves and roots of Kobresia pygmaea fluctuated greatly with experimental temperature in June and September. The superoxide dismutase activity in the leaves and roots of the four months changed significantly with temperatures. The peroxidation activity in the leaves was higher than that in the roots, while the catalase activity in leaves and roots fluctuates greatly during June, with a relative stable content in other months. Membership function analysis showed that higher temperatures were more harmful to plant leaves, and lower temperatures were more harmful to plant roots. The interaction of organs, growing season and stress temperature significantly affected the physiological indicators.ConclusionsThe physiological indicators of Kobresia pygmaea can actively respond to temperature changes, and high temperature can reduce the stress resistance Kobresia pygmaea. Our findings suggest that the Kobresia pygmaea has high adaptability to climate warming in the future.
Highlights
The Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau is experiencing rapid climate warming, which may further affect plant growth
The main goal of this study is to explore the physiological response of Kobresia pygmaea to temperature changes
We used laboratory experiments to examine the physiological response of Kobresia pygmaea to different temperatures
Summary
The Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau is experiencing rapid climate warming, which may further affect plant growth. To cope with temperature stress, plants have evolved a variety of efficient mechanisms that allow them to adapt to the adverse conditions [12, 13] This adaptive process involves a number of biochemical and physiological changes, including increased levels of proline, soluble sugars, and malondialdehyde, as well as enzyme activities [14]. These indices have been widely used to investigate the plant physiology response to high temperature and low temperature on plant seedlings, as well as plant leaves [15]
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