Acclimation responses of Tamarix chinensis seedlings related to cold stress

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the acclimation responses of Tamarix chinensis to cold stress. We evaluated the acclimation responses by measuring biomass, daily elongation rate, chlorophyll content, and total soluble carbohydrate content. The plant samples comprised leaves from seedlings of 2 different ages (8 and 12 weeks); the leaves were collected 0, 2, and 4 weeks after cold treatment. We found that the cold-treated samples showed reduced daily elongation rates and chlorophyll content. Further, these samples showed more than 8-fold increase in the total soluble carbohydrate content. However, the seedling ages did not have a significant influence on the growth of cold-treated seedlings. On the basis of these findings, we can conclude that T. chinensis seedlings aged less than 1 year old show acclimation to cold stress by accumulating soluble carbohydrates. This study may help us understand how T. chinensis seedlings acclimatize to their first cold season. © The Ecological Society of Korea.