Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Acclimatisation of plants exposed to cold
temperatures
345
Plants survive freezing temperatures by limiting
ice formation
347
Cold-resistant plants tend to have membranes with
more unsaturated fatty acids
347
Cold-acclimated plants secrete antifreeze proteins
347
Acclimation of the photosynthetic apparatus due to
high temperatures
348
14.7 Oxygen may protect during acclimation to various
stresses
349
14.8 Plant adaptation to environmental stress
351
Adaptation to heat stress
351
References
353
Abstract
Plant stress usually reflects some sudden change in envi-
ronmental condition. However, in stress-tolerant plant
species, exposure to a particular stress leads to accli-
mation to that specific stress in a time-dependent man-
ner. Plant stress and plant acclimation are intimately
linked with each other. The stress-induced modulation of
homeostasis can be considered as the signal for the plant
to initiated processes required for the establishment of
a new homeostasis associated with the acclimated state.
Plants exhibit stress resistance or stress tolerance because
of their genetic capacity to adjust or to acclimate to the
stress and establish a new homeostatic state over time.
Furthermore, the acclimation process in stress-resistant
species is usually reversible upon removal of the external
stress. Stress induces many biochemical, molecular and
physiological changes and responses that influence vari-
ous cellular and whole-plant processes that affect crop
yield and quality.
14.1
Introduction
The establishment of homeostasis associated with the new
acclimated state is not the result of a single physiological
process but rather the result of many physiological processes
that the plant integrates over time, that is, integrates over the
acclimation period (Figure 14.1). Plants usually integrate
