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ARS Home » Plains Area » Lubbock, Texas » Cropping Systems Research Laboratory » Plant Stress and Germplasm Development Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #64374

Title: CHARACTERIZATION OF ACQUIRED THERMOTOLERANCE IN SOYBEAN SEEDLINGS

Author
item Burke, John
item Zaghmout, Ousama

Submitted to: Plant Physiology and Biochemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/23/1998
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: High surface temperatures are common to soils during periods of drought and when fields receive limited irrigation. Seedlings frequently experience these high temperatures during emergence and early seedling establishment in many regions of the world. The research presented in this manuscript describes the development of a technique for identifying inherent and acquired thermotolerance in higher plants. This study used soybeans as a test plant because there was a significant literature on the heat shock response in soybean tissues. The results demonstrate the temperature sensitivity of chlorophyll accumulation, and describes developmental responses of soybean seedlings to elevated temperatures.

Technical Abstract: High surface temperatures are common to soils during periods of drought and when fields receive limited irrigation. Seedlings frequently experience these high temperatures during emergence and early seedling establishment in many regions of the world. The effects of a high temperature exposure on subsequent chlorophyll accumulation was determined in soybean (Glycine max) seedlings. Etiolated seedlings and excised cotyledons received a 30 min challenge temperature between 44 and 56 degrees C. Following the high temperature challenge in the dark, they were returned to optimal temperatures for chlorophyll and exposed to continuous light. The results show that chlorophyll accumulation was prevented by challenge temperatures of 50 degrees C and above in soybean cotyledons. Pre-incubation of the etiolated soybean cotyledons at 38 degrees C or 40 degrees C prior to the 50 degree C challenge provided maximum protection against high temperature injury. The time course for inducing acquired thermotolerance was dependen upon the tissue age (number of days following germination), as was the level of acquired thermotolerance. The results of this study demonstrate an inducible protection system and suggest that the temperature sensitivity of chlorophyll can be used as a sensitive bioassay for evaluating thermotolerance plants.