ABSTRACT

This chapter provides an examination of the cell wall in relation to freezing injury in cultured Solanum tuberosum cells. E. R. Morris et al. showed that following the exposure of yeast cells at -20°C to nonpenetrating compounds, e.g., NaCl or glycerol, cellular viability upon rehydration was dependent on the external osmolality; that is, increasing osmolality in the range of 1 to 5 osmol decreased viability. S. Fujikawa and K. Miura provided additional evidence regarding the involvement of mechanical stress exerted by extracellular ice formation as a possible cause of slow freezing injury. J. J. Zhu demonstrated the existence of negative turgor pressure developed in leaves of Pachysandra terminalis during freezing. A good correlation was found between intermembrane particle aggregation and freezing injury for tertiary hyphae among 15 mushroom species. The suggested role of the cell wall of cultured potato cells in inducing freezing injury was based on a prerequisite that cell volume continuously decreases as the temperature is being lowered.