The Effect of Chilling Maize Shoots and Roots on the Electric Potential, Composition of Fatty Acids and the ATPase Activity in the Non-chilled Organs of Seedlings |
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Authors: | M Filek J Kocielniak |
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Institution: | Department of Plant Physiology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Podluzna 3, 30–239 Kraków, Poland;Chair of Plant Physiology, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Agriculture, Podluzna 3, 30–239 Kraków, Poland |
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Abstract: | The effect of separate chilling (5°C for 2 and 4 days) on the shoots and roots of two maize hybrid seedlings on the electric potential, the composition of fatty acids and the ATPase activity in the microsomes of non-chilled leaves and roots (20°C) was investigated. It has been found that the low temperatures induced on the non-chilled organs gave similar changes to organs exposed to a reduced temperature. The changes consisted of a parallel depolarization of leaf and root membranes and similarly a decrease in the ATPase activity as well as changes in the unsaturation of the membranes' fatty acids. The reduction of the acid content 18:2 was particularly significant, which in the leaf microsomes correlated with a drop in the ATPase activity. The similarity between the reactions of the chilled and non-chilled parts of the plant gives evidence of a communication' between the organs which may facilitate a coordinated reaction of the entire organism to stress. The background for these phenomena could be die action potential of die chilled parts of seedlings which, in the non-chilled parts, might produce changes in the structure of biomembranes and in the activity of enzymes. |
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Keywords: | Maize chill electric potential fatty adds ATPase |
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