Relationship between Frost Tolerance and Cold-Induced Resistance of Spring Barley, Meadow Fescue and Winter Oilseed Rape to Fungal Pathogens

Plants exposed to one stress factor may become more tolerant to another. Cold is the most often documented factor inducing plant resistance to pathogens. The aim of this work was to investigate whether resistance of spring barley and meadow fescue to Bipolaris sorokiniana and resistance of winter oilseed rape to Phoma lingam induced at 5 °C for 2, 4 or 6 weeks are associated with frost tolerance, water potential and soluble carbohydrate content. Cold‐acclimated plants of each species showed increased resistance to the studied pathogens. Barley, fescue and rape plants demonstrated higher frost tolerance after hardening, but only in the case of fescue a correlation between resistance to frost and resistance to B. sorokiniana was found. A significant decrease in the water potential of leaf cells was observed in cold‐acclimated barley and fescue. In these two species, water potential greatly affected resistance to B. sorokiniana. However, only in barley did accumulation of fructose, glucose and sucrose correlate as well with changes in water potential as with cold‐induced resistance to the pathogen. In the case of hardened rape, no correlation between the studied parameters was found. The results obtained indicated that the temperature of 5 °C used during cold acclimation was not favourable for hardening of this plant species.