Chilling Tolerance, Cold Hardening and Freezing Tolerance of Low-temperature-tolerant Mutants of Dendranthema × grandiflorum (Ramat.) Kitamura

Two low-temperature-tolerant mutants of the Dendranthema × grandiflorum (Ramat.) Kitamura cultivar ‘Puck’ derived from an x-radiated tissue culture system were compared, as vegetatively growing plants, to ‘Puck’ ssfor several physiological properties under low-temperature conditions. So far, the low-temperature tolerance of the mutants has been defined as the capacity to flower earlier under low temperature conditions (8—15°C) the wild type. All three lines were not chilling sensitive in the vegetative state and were able to acclimatize and to develop freezing tolerance. Differences between ‘Puck’ and the mutants were found but could not be related to the low-temperature tolerance of the mutants in the generative phase. Levels of the amino acid proline increased during the hardening process, reaching the highest level in the cultivar ‘Puck’. No evidence could be obtained that proline is causally involved in the cold-hardening process. Freezing-induced membrane injury was found to decrease with cold hardening (0—28 days) but the two mutants did not show a greater capacity to acclimatize and cold harden than the original cultivar ‘Puck’.