Adaptation to altitude affects the senescence response to chilling in the perennial plant Arabis alpina.

ABSTRACT: In annual plants with determinate growth, sugar accumulation signals high carbon availability once growth has ceased, resulting in senescence-dependent nutrient recycling to the seeds. However, this senescence-inducing effect of sugars is abolished at cold temperature, where sugar accumulation is important for protection. Here, natural variation was exploited to analyse the effect of chilling on interactions between leaf senescence, sugars, and phytohormones in Arabis alpina, a perennial plant with indeterminate growth. Eight accessions of A. alpina originating from between 2090 and 3090 m above sea level in the French Alps were used to identify heritable adaptations in senescence, stress response, sugars, and phytohormones to altitude. Accessions from high altitudes showed an enhanced cap

SUBMITTER: Wingler A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4265169 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature