ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes the effectiveness of mefluidide on chilling protection of corn and rice seedlings. Mefluidide is a synthetic plant growth regulator. It affects plant growth drastically. Corn plants treated with mefluidide showed no significant changes in relative water content (RWC) during and after chilling, whereas the control continuously decreased in RWC. It is generally acceptable that plasma membrane is the primary site in sensing chilling injury. Chilling-induced increase in electrolyte leakage has been used as a measurement of the integrity of plasma membrane. There is evidence that endogenous Abscisic Acid (ABA) increase is interrelated with increase in plant cold hardiness. However, the increase in ABA content is not necessarily parallel with the increase in cold hardiness. It is suggested that an increase in endogenous ABA content, as triggered by mefluidide before chilling, would be a necessary step in activating the protection system that enables plants to minimize the injury during low temperature exposure.
