Abstract:
The effects of low temperature on the length, growth rate, and cell viability of the primary roots of Arabidopsis seedlings were investigated using the AOX (alternative oxidase) anti-sense line (AS-12), AOX overexpression line (XX-2), and wild-type (WT) plants. The results showed that there was no obvious difference in the length, growth rate, and cell viability of the primary roots among these three kinds of Arabidopsis plants grown under 22 ℃. Compared with the growth under 22 ℃, these three kinds of Arabidopsis plants grown under low temperature (4 ℃) had lower levels of the length, growth rate, and cell viability of the the primary roots. Under the low temperature, however, the primary roots of XX-2 had higher levels of the length, growth rate, and cell viability than either AS-12 or WT. These observations suggested that mitochondrial AOX could play a role in mediating primary root growth under low temperature stress. The possible mechanism was also discussed in this paper.
