ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a summary of results that illustrate the photosynthetic responses of cold-tolerant cereals, spinach, and pine to low temperature-induced photoinhibition. Pre Exposure to a low temperature regime induces a cold-hardened state that imparts a certain level of freezing resistance and enhances the winter survival of the seedlings under natural conditions. Photosynthesis provides the energy for this cold hardening process. The phenomenon of resistance to photoinhibition was examined at several levels of cellular organization in winter rye: isolated thylakoids; isolated, intact mesophyll cells; and leaf segments. In contrast to the herbaceous cold-tolerant plants, Scots pine exposed to cold hardening conditions exhibited the same susceptibility to low temperature-induced photoinhibition as nonhardened Scots pine. To attain maximum cold hardiness, the herbaceous plants grow and develop at low temperatures and, as a consequence, develop a resistance to low temperature photoinhibition. The capacity to down-regulate PSII through photoinhibition may be an important characteristic that separates cold-tolerant from chilling-sensitive plant species.
