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(Reference retrieved automatically from Web of Science through information on FAPESP grant and its corresponding number as mentioned in the publication by the authors.)

Low temperature and defoliation affect fructan-metabolizing enzymes in different regions of the rhizophores of Vernonia herbacea

Full text
Author(s):
Portes, Maria Teresa [1] ; Figueiredo-Ribeiro, Rita de Cassia L. [1] ; de Carvalho, Maria Angela M. [1]
Total Authors: 3
Affiliation:
[1] Inst Bot, Secao Fisiol & Bioquim Plantas, BR-01061970 Sao Paulo - Brazil
Total Affiliations: 1
Document type: Journal article
Source: Journal of Plant Physiology; v. 165, n. 15, p. 1572-1581, 2008.
Web of Science Citations: 17
Abstract

In addition to the storage function, fructans in Asteraceae from floras with seasonal growth have been associated with drought and freezing tolerance. Vernonia herbacea, native of the Brazilian Cerrado, bears underground reserve organs, rhizophores, accumulating inulin-type fructans. The rhizophore is a cauline branched system with positive geotropic growth, with the apex (distal region) presenting younger tissues; sprouting of new shoots occurs by development of buds located on the opposite end (proximal region). Plants induced to sprouting by excision of the aerial organs present increased 1-fructan exohydrolase (1-FEH) activity in the proximal region, white plants at the vegetative stage present high 1-sucrose: sucrose fructosyltransferase (1-SST) in the distal region. The aim of the present study was to analyze how low temperature (5 degrees C) could affect fructan-metabolizing enzymes and fructan composition in the different regions of the rhizophores of intact and excised plants. 1-SST and 1-fructan:fructan fructosyltransferase (1-FFT) were higher in the distal region decreasing towards the proximal region in intact plants at the vegetative phase, and were drastically diminished when cold and/or excision were imposed. In contrast, 1-FEH increased in the proximal region of treated plants, mainly in excised plants subjected to cold. The ratio fructo-oligo to fructo-polysaccharides was significantly higher in plants exposed to low temperature (11. 17 in intact plants and 1.64 in excised plants) than in plants exposed to natural temperature conditions (0.84 in intact vegetative plants and 0.58 in excised plants), suggesting that oligosaccharides are involved in the tolerance of plants to Low temperature via 1-FEH, in addition to 1-FFT. Principal component analysis indicated different response mechanisms in fructan metabolism under defoliation and low temperature, which could be interpreted as part of the strategies to undergo unfavorable environmental conditions prevailing in the Cerrado during winter. (C) 2008 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved. (AU)

FAPESP's process: 98/05124-8 - Conservation and sustainable use of the plant biodiversity from the cerrado and Atlantic Forest: the storage of carbohydrates and their role on the adaptation and maintainance of plants in their natural environment
Grantee:Marcos Silveira Buckeridge
Support Opportunities: BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Thematic Grants
FAPESP's process: 05/04139-7 - Carbohydrates of tropical species as modulators of ecophysiological processes and as environmental stress response markers
Grantee:Marcia Regina Braga
Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants