Factors affecting abscisic acid induced freezing resistance in cell suspension cultures

Abstract

[Excerpt from Introduction] The induction of freezing and chilling tolerance in temperate plant species requires a sensory mechanism for detecting environmental cues. The cue may be a stress or an environmental change, e.g. photoperiod. In response to the cues, metabolism switches from growth promotion to growth cessation. Short days at warm temperatures or low temperatures alone are known to induce cold acclimation in some temperate species (Weiser, 1970). Leaves perceive photoperiodic changes but the sensory mechanism is unknown (Fuchigami et al., 1971) although phytochrome may be involved (Kacperska-Palacz et al., 1975). There is considerable evidence that environmentally-controlled, endogenous growth regulators such as abscisic acid (ABA) and gibberellic acid (GA) are also involved in the adaptive response.