Cold temperature exposure at 10°C for 10 and 20 nights does not reduce tissue viability in vegetative and early flowering cotton plants
A. J. McDowell A D , M. P. Bange B C and D. K. Y. Tan A C EA Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
B CSIRO Division of Plant Industry, Locked Bag 59, Narrabri, NSW 2390, Australia.
C Cotton Catchment Communities Cooperative Research Centre, Australian Cotton Research Institute, Locked Bag 1001, Narrabri, NSW 2390, Australia.
D Present address: Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, GPO Box 858, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
E Corresponding author. Email: d.tan@usyd.edu.au
Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 47(2) 198-207 https://doi.org/10.1071/EA05371
Submitted: 22 December 2005 Accepted: 13 June 2006 Published: 23 January 2007
Abstract
In Australia, temperatures below 11°C (called cold shocks) were believed to retard cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) growth, development and yield. Recent studies, however, have suggested that temperatures lower than this did not impede cotton development beyond normal developmental responses to cool temperatures. This paper aims to test the hypothesis that cold exposure to 10°C for 10 and 20 nights does not reduce tissue viability in vegetative and early flowering cotton plants. Cold temperatures at 10°C for 10 and 20 consecutive nights were imposed on cotton plants, grown in both controlled temperature glasshouses and outdoors, at the vegetative seedling and early flowering stages. Extreme temperature tests at 2, 5 and 7°C for two nights were also imposed to generate tissue damage for comparison. 2,3,5-Triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (TTC) tissue viability (testing for mitochondrial activity), relative electrical conductivity (REC, testing for membrane integrity), leaf chlorophyll fluorescence, leaf photosynthesis, plant dry weight and yield were measured. Only exposure at 2°C for two nights showed negative effects in the TTC and REC tests, and leaves of these plants died soon after exposure. There were no consistent negative effects in the TTC and REC tests for all treatments at 10°C for 10 and 20 nights compared with the respective controls, suggesting that there was no structural or functional damage to leaves. In support of these findings, leaf photosynthesis and both light- and dark-adapted chlorophyll fluorescence for the 20 nights at 10°C treatment were occasionally below the controls but recovered quickly, suggesting that only temporary dynamic photoinhibition occurred. Cotton plant development was delayed following 10 and 20 nights at 10°C owing to reduced degree day accumulation. These data support previous work that cold temperatures at 10°C for up to 20 nights would be unlikely to result in yield reduction as a consequence of plant damage, and also that crop development can be estimated with degree days without an adjustment for cold shock. The use of TTC and REC has potential for novel detection of tissue damage for cotton at extreme temperatures.
Additional keywords: chilling injury, chlorophyll fluorescence, cold temperatures, cotton, electrolyte leakage, Gossypium hirsutum, tetrazolium chloride, photoinhibition.
Acknowledgements
We thank the Australian Cotton Cooperative Research Centre for funding this work and are grateful to Mick O’Neill and David McGill of the University of Sydney for statistical advice. We gratefully acknowledge the staff at CSIRO Division of Plant Industry, Jo Price, Graeme Rapp, Rose Roche and Jane Caton for providing technical support, and Brian Duggan, Peter Goodwin, Lindsay Campbell and Ezaz Mamun for critical advice on the manuscript.
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