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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 #163772
Title: IDENTIFICATION OF METABOLITES ASSOCIATED WITH FREEZING TOLERANCE IN CONSTITUTIVELY FREEZING TOLERANT MUTANTS OF ARABIDOPSIS

Author
item Chen, Junping
item Xin, Zhanguo

Submitted to: International Congress on Plant Metabolomics
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/3/2004
Publication Date: 6/6/2004
Citation: Chen, J., Xin, Z. 2004. Identification of metabolites associated with freezing tolerance in constitutively freezing tolerant mutants of arabidopsis[abstract]. International Congress on Plant Metabolomics. Paper No. 62.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Many plants develop a better freezing tolerance through a process of cold acclimation (CA), which also results in many changes in metabolite levels. To identify and distinguish metabolites that contribute to the increased freezing tolerance from those that are merely responsive to low temperature stress, we investigated the changes of metabolite profile in several constitutively freezing tolerant (cft) mutants and Col wild type (Col-WT) plants of Arabidopsis on HPLC system equipped with ELSD, UV and Fluorescence detectors. Metabolites associated with constitutive freezing tolerance and/or associated with induced freezing tolerance in response to cold acclimation were identified by comparing the metabolite profiles 1) in those mutants with non-acclimated and cold acclimated Col-WT Arabidopsis, 2) with the ability of CA to enhance the freezing tolerance in Col-WT and cft mutants, and 3) with decreased freezing tolerance in Col-WT and cft mutants during de-acclimation process after 48 hours of CA treatment. Preliminary results indicate that, in addition to accumulating metabolites commonly known associated with temperature stress, such as proline, raffinose and maltose, non-acclimated cft mutants also accumulated several other unique compounds in significant amount. Some of these compounds were also identified in cold acclimated WT plants. The changes of these compounds during cold acclimation and de-acclimation in WT plants were correlated with the development of freezing tolerance. This integrative approach, which combines genetic, metabolic profiling, and physiological analysis, provides a powerful tool to identify metabolites that play a key role in temperature stress tolerance in higher plants.