ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses how the expression of cold acclimation is controlled by both abscisic acid (ABA) and anti-GA plant growth regulators. The environmental cues for the induction of cold acclimation are well documented for woody species. The main plant growth regulators which have shown a positive response in increasing winter hardiness are Copyright Clearance Center and ethephon. Winter cereals attain maximum freezing tolerance in December and thereafter steadily lose freezing tolerance. The induction of freezing tolerance in plant cell cultures with exogenous ABA eliminates some problems associated with whole plants, such as uptake, microbial degradation, and highly differentiated cells. In vitro analysis of mRNA isolated from ABA-treated cells produced nine heat-stable polypeptides when synthesized in the rabbit reticulocyte system. ABA-inducible, heat-stable, dehydration-responsive late embryogenesis abundant proteins were proposed to confer desiccation tolerance in seeds.
