Leaf Fatty-Acid Content in Relation to Hardening and Chilling Injury
Open Access
- 1 February 1974
- journal article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Journal of Experimental Botany
- Vol. 25 (1) , 121-131
- https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/25.1.121
Abstract
At 25°C the leaves of chill-resistant plants did not contain more unsaturated fatty acid than chill-sensitive plants. Furthermore when chill-sensitive plants were hardened at 12°C there was no increase in the amount of unsaturated fatty acid or total weight of fatty acid in the leaf. These results cast further doubt on the importance of the degree of unsaturation of the fatty acids in determining the critical temperature at which the phase change occurs in the lipid portion of the membrane. When chill-sensitive plants are chilled (5°C) the percentage of linolenic acid and total weight of fatty acid decreases rapidly but remains constant in chill-resistant species. Hardening may reduce the degree of damage to the plant by slowing down detrimental processes such as the decrease in the percentage of linolenic acid which occurs on chilling.Keywords
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