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PubMed2000

Effects of pre-acclimation to aluminium on the physiology and swimming behaviour of juvenile rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) during a pulsed exposure.

Anthropogenic acidification of the freshwater environment causes aluminium to be mobilised into the aquatic environment. When pH falls below 5.5, exposure to aluminium concentrations as low as 12.5 microg.l(-1) can cause serious physiological disturbances in freshwater fish. However, under constant laboratory exposures fish can acclimate and recover physiological status within 5-30 days. In reality, fish in the wild are likely to experience chronic sub-lethal exposure, with occasional elevations (pulses) to much higher levels. The experiment described here investigated the effects of an environmentally realistic, 4-day pulse exposure to a high level of aluminium (36 microg.l(-1)) in two groups of juvenile rainbow trout. One group was exposed to a lower level of aluminium (24 microg.l(-1)) for 16 days before and 10 days after the pulse ('aluminium-acclimated' fish). A second group was exposed to pH 5.2 alone for 16 days before and 10 days after the pulse ('aluminium-naïve' fish). A third group exposed to pH 5.2 alone for 30 days (no aluminium added) acted as controls. Triplicate groups of 24 juvenile rainbow trout (2.3-16.7 g) were randomly allocated to one of these three treatments. Swimming behaviour was monitored throughout and samples were taken on days 14, 20, 22, 26 and 30 for assessment of physiological status. No treatment effects were recorded in the control group (pH 5.2 alone). Fish in the 'aluminium-acclimated' treatment became hypo-active upon initiation of the exposure to 24 microg.l(-1) aluminium, but recovered after just 4 days of this exposure. Subsequent challenge on day 16 with the 36 microg.l(-1) aluminium 'pulse' caused these fish to became hypo-active again, but they recovered normal swimming behaviour whilst still subject to the 4-day pulse. The 'aluminium-naïve' fish also became hypo-active during the pulse exposure (36 microg.l(-1) aluminium). However, they did not exhibit any recovery of swimming behaviour, either during the pulse, or even 6 days after the cessation of the pulse, despite a rapid depuration of gill aluminium load (within 2 days of the pulse finishing). Mortality was low in the aluminium-acclimated fish (4%) and significantly higher in the aluminium-naïve fish (26%). Haematological disturbances were most extreme in the aluminium-naïve fish and had not recovered to control levels 6 days after the end of the pulse. This study provides new evidence, using behavioural responses, that previous exposure to low levels of aluminium may be an important factor abating the impact of aluminium on fish in the natural environment.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

PubMed2003

Inter-population differences in Cd, Cr, Se, and Zn accumulation by the green mussel Perna viridis acclimated at different salinities.

Trace metal (Cd, Cr, Se, and Zn) uptake from the dissolved phase, assimilation efficiency from the dietary phase, and metal body burden, as well as the clearance rate, apparent water permeability and gill surface area were measured in the green mussel Perna viridis collected from two contrasting salinity sites in Hong Kong coastal waters with following acclimation in the laboratory at different salinities. The concentrations of metals were 1.2-6.4x greater in mussels collected from the low salinity site, i.e. Tai O, as compared with Tap Mun (high salinity) mussels. Influx of Cd and Zn from the dissolved phase increased with decreased salinity. Furthermore, Cr(VI) and Se (selenite) influx were also affected by decreased salinity, in particular below 17 psu, suggesting that speciation was not the only factor to effect metal uptake. Long-term acclimation to different salinity also had an effect on metal uptake. Mussels collected from Tap Mun (high salinity) accumulated metals 1.2-2.2x faster than mussels from Tai O (low salinity) at intermediate and high experimental salinities >17 psu. Metal assimilation efficiencies were unaffected by salinity variation, but gut passage times were significantly longer at low (10 psu) salinities, indicating some effect of lowered salinity on mussels gut physiology. Gill surface area, which was similar in both populations of mussels, and filtration rate, which was generally similar or higher in those groups with low metal uptake, could not explain the inter-population difference in metal accumulation. Although there was no significant difference, due to high inter-individual variability, the apparent water permeability of the Tap Mun population was on average about 1.6x greater compared with Tai O mussels, and may partially account for the difference in metal uptake between these two populations acclimated at salinity >17 psu. Thus, the effect of salinity on metal uptake is dependent on metal biogeochemistry as well as a range of physiological responses. There was a clear effect of acclimation to lowered salinity on metal uptake, which may have important implications for metal accumulation modelling, biomonitoring, and toxicity studies.

Animals↗

PubMed2001

Effects of lipopolysaccharide and acclimation temperature on induced behavioral fever in juvenile Iguana iguana.

We examined the effects of acclimation temperature and two doses (2.5 and 25mgkg(-1)) of a pyrogen (lipopolysaccharide, LPS) on behavioral thermoregulation in juvenile green iguanas. Overall means of body temperatures for the three-day trial periods were compared among three groups of animals acclimated at 15, 25, and 34 degrees C. The responses of each group of animals to the two dosages of LPS and a control saline injection were examined. Within each treatment block, animals either chose high body temperatures characteristic of a fever response or chose low body temperatures characteristic of a hypothermic response. Thermoregulation was influenced by interaction effects between and among, and independent effects of, acclimation temperature, dose of LPS, and day. In some treatment blocks, individual lizard mass positively correlated with mean individual body temperature. Mean mass of lizards that chose higher body temperatures within a treatment block was higher than the mean mass of lizards that chose lower body temperatures. From these results, we concluded that LPS may induce two different behavioral thermoregulatory responses: fever or hypothermia. The actual amplitude and direction of body temperature change appears to be affected by acclimation temperature and possibly by mass or energy reserves of the animal. If the energy reserves are not sufficient to sustain the higher rate of metabolism associated with the higher body temperatures of a hyperthermic or feverish state, the animal may resort to hypothermia.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1998

Thermoregulatory adaptations associated with training and heat acclimation.

The large metabolic heat load generated as a consequence of muscular work requires activation of thermoregulatory mechanisms in order to prevent an excessive and potentially dangerous rise in body temperature during exercise. Although the horse has highly efficient heat dissipatory mechanisms, there are a number of circumstances in which the thermoregulatory system may be overwhelmed, resulting in the development of critical hyperthermia. The risk for development of life-threatening hyperthermia is greatest when (1) the horse is inadequately conditioned for the required level of physical performance; (2) exercise is undertaken in hot and particularly, in hot and humid ambient conditions; and (3) there is an impairment to thermoregulatory mechanisms (e.g., severe dehydration, anhidrosis). Both exercise training under cool to moderate ambient conditions and a period of repeated exposure to, and exercise in, hot ambient conditions (heat acclimation) will result in a number of physiologic adaptations conferring improved thermoregulatory ability. These adaptations include an expanded plasma volume, greater stability of cardiovascular function during exercise, and an improved efficiency of evaporative heat loss as a result of alterations in the sweating response. Collectively, these adjustments serve to attenuate the rise in core body temperature in response to a given intensity of exercise. The magnitude of the physiologic adaptations occurring during exercise training and heat acclimation is a reflection of the thermal load imposed on the horse. Therefore, when compared with a period of training in cool conditions, the larger thermal stimulus associated with repeated exercise in hot ambient conditions will invoke proportionally greater thermoregulatory adaptations. Although it is not possible to eliminate the effects of adverse environmental conditions on exercise performance, it is clear that a thorough exercise training program together with a subsequent period of acclimatization will serve to ameliorate the impact of the environment. Based on our current understanding of the nature and extent of thermoregulatory adaptations in the horse, the following conclusions can be made: 1. A 2- to 3-month period of exercise training geared toward the specific athletic endeavor to be undertaken will result in substantial improvements in thermoregulatory capacity and is an absolute requirement for horses required to compete in hot ambient conditions. 2. Although physical training in a cool environment improves physiologic responses to exercise at high ambient temperatures, a 2-week period of moderate exercise training in these more adverse conditions is necessary for optimization of thermoregulatory function and physical performance. 3. Heat acclimation does not reduce the need for close monitoring of horses during training and competition in the heat. This is particularly true in hot, humid ambient conditions, where the biophysical limitations to sweat evaporation can result in development of severe hyperthermia, regardless of the state of training or heat acclimation.

Acclimatization↗

PubMed2000

Inability of adult Limnodynastes peronii (Amphibia: Anura) to thermally acclimate locomotor performance.

Despite several studies on adult amphibians, only larvae of the striped marsh frog (Limnodynastes peronii) have been reported to possess the ability to compensate for the effects of cool temperature on locomotor performance by thermal acclimation. In this study, we investigated whether this thermal acclimatory ability is shared by adult L. peronii. We exposed adult L. peronii to either 18 or 30 degrees C for 8 weeks and tested their swimming and jumping performance at six temperatures between 8 and 35 degrees C. Acute changes in temperature affected both maximum swimming and jumping performance, however there was no difference between the two treatment groups in locomotor performance between 8 and 30 degrees C. Maximum swimming velocity of both groups increased from 0.62+/-0.02 at 8 degrees C to 1.02+/-0.03 m s(-1) at 30 degrees C, while maximum jump distance increased from approximately 20 to >60 cm over the same temperature range. Although adult L. peronii acclimated to 18 degrees C failed to produce a locomotor response at 35 degrees C, this most likely reflected a change in thermal tolerance limits with acclimation rather than modifications in the locomotor system. As all adult amphibians studied to date are incapable of thermally acclimating locomotor performance, including adults of L. peronii, this acclimatory capacity appears to be absent from the adult stage of development.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

PubMed2001

Effect of cold-acclimation on oxygen uptake and glucose production of perfused duckling liver.

The control of hepatic metabolism by substrates and hormones was assessed in perfused liver from young Muscovy ducklings. Studies were performed in fed or 24-h fasted 5-week-old thermoneutral (25 degrees C; TN) or cold-acclimated ducklings (4 degrees C; CA) and results were compared with those obtained in rats. Basal oxygen uptake of perfused liver (LVO2) was higher after cold acclimation both in fed (+65%) and 24-h fasted (+29%) ducklings and in 24-h fasted rats (+34%). Lactate (2 mM), the main gluconeogenic substrate in birds, similarly increased LVO2 in both TN and CA ducklings and the effect was larger after fasting. Both glucagon and norepinephrine dose-dependently increased LVO2 in ducklings and rats, but cold acclimation did not improve liver response and liver sensitivity to norepinephrine in ducklings was even reduced in CA animals. Liver contribution to glucagon-induced thermogenesis in vivo was estimated to be 22% in TN and 12% in CA ducklings. Glucagon stimulated gluconeogenesis from lactate in duckling liver and the stimulation was 2.2-fold higher in CA than in TN fasted birds. These results indicate a stimulated hepatic oxidative metabolism in CA ducklings but hepatic glucagon-induced thermogenesis (as measured by LVO2) was not improved. A role of the liver is suggested in duckling metabolic acclimation to cold through an enhanced hepatic gluconeogenesis under glucagon control.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

PubMed2002

The effect of acclimation temperature on the fusion kinetics of lipid vesicles derived from endoplasmic reticulum membranes of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) liver.

Membrane fusion is an obligatory step in many vital cellular processes. The well-established enrichment of bilayer-destabilizing lipids in membranes of poikilotherms subjected to growth at low temperatures leads to the prediction that such membranes will possess a greater propensity to undergo fusion. This hypothesis was explicitly tested in the present study by determining the kinetics of fusion between small unilamellar vesicles (SUVs) prepared from endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membranes of thermally-acclimated (to 5 and 20 degrees C) rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) liver and bovine brain phosphatidylserine (BBPS). At temperatures above 10 degrees C, ER vesicles from 5 degrees C-acclimated trout, fused more rapidly and to a greater extent with BBPS vesicles (by average factors of 1.25- and 1.45-fold, respectively) than ER vesicles of 20 degrees C-acclimated trout. At temperatures >35 degrees C, apparent fusion rates declined while the extent of fusion increased in both acclimation groups. Fusion kinetics were found to be well correlated with and limited by the physical properties and phase state of the BBPS vesicles. These results indicate that dynamic attributes of biological membranes, such as the propensity to undergo fusion, are of potential regulatory significance and are partially conserved when growth or environmental temperature changes.

Acclimatization↗

PubMed2002

Cooling by cutaneous water evaporation in the heat-acclimated rock pigeon (Columba livia).

The present study provides an up-to-date overview of the cutaneous water-evaporation cooling mechanism in the rock pigeon. Cutaneous water evaporation fully replaces the classic respiratory cooling mechanism in the resting, heat-acclimated bird, and is more economical in terms of water conservation. It enables the pigeon to maintain homeostasis, and to breed successfully in harsh environments. Adrenergic signaling is involved in the initiation of this novel mechanism, either by deactivation of the beta-adrenergic receptors (ARs), or activation of the alpha-AR. The adrenergic signaling results in a marked increase in cutaneous blood flow and in the arterial-to-venous blood-flow ratio. This is associated with alterations in the cutaneous capillary wall ultrastructure, which increase its permeability to plasma proteins and water. The end result of this process might be an increase in water efflux from the capillary lumen. The properties of beta-ARs were measured in the cardiac muscle of thermal-acclimated pigeons. Significant down-regulation in the density of beta-ARs, associated with increased affinity of these receptors, was measured in the heat-acclimated pigeon. Concomitantly, changes in the skin ultrastructure and lipid composition were found in very well defined patches in the epidermis of heat-acclimated pigeons. These suppress the skin resistance to water transfer. We suggest that this cooling mechanism involves finely orchestrated adjustments in the ultrastructure of the skin and the cutaneous capillaries, and in skin blood flow. Adrenergic signals are among those factors that regulate this cooling mechanism during exposure to a hot environment.

Acclimatization↗

PubMed2001

Circulating angiotensins in the river lamprey, Lampetra fluviatilis, acclimated to freshwater and seawater: possible involvement in the regulation of drinking.

Plasma angiotensin levels were measured for the first time in a cyclostome, the river lamprey. With the demonstration that angiotensins are present in the circulation, the possibility of a physiological role in the regulation of drinking was re-examined. Angiotensin II and III concentrations and plasma osmolalities were significantly higher in lampreys acclimated to 28 ppt seawater than in those acclimated to freshwater. No changes were found in angiotensin II and III levels 4 h after transfer from freshwater to 50% seawater, although plasma osmolality had started to rise by this time. There was a suggestion that plasma angiotensin II levels might be related to osmolality in the transfer experiment. Injection of Asp(1)Val(5)- or Asn(1)Val(5)-angiotensin II (40-169 microg/kg body wt.) did not stimulate drinking in freshwater-acclimated lampreys, even when they were still capable of drinking. The angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor captopril and the smooth muscle relaxant papaverine both reduced drinking rate in 50% seawater-acclimated lampreys. The data do not provide direct evidence for the involvement of the renin-angiotensin system in the control of drinking behaviour in the lamprey. Indirect evidence from the captopril effect is suggestive, but could have other explanations.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

PubMed2002

Chloride conductance and mitochondria-rich cell density in isolated skin of Rana catesbeiana acclimated to various environments.

The Cl- conductance in isolated skin of frogs (Rana catesbeiana) acclimated to 30 mM solutions of NaCl, Na2SO4, MgCl2 and distilled water (DW) was studied. Transepithelial potential difference (PDtrans), short-circuit current (ISC) and total conductance (Gt) were measured under conditions such that there was Cl- flux in the presence and absence of Na+ transport. The Cl- content of the mucosal solution was acutely replaced with SO42- or gluconate to evaluate the effect of removal of Cl- conductance on electrophysiological parameters. Mitochondria-rich cell density (DMRC) was also measured. Skins from frogs acclimated to NaCl and Na2SO4 showed the lowest and the highest D(MRC), respectively, but no difference could be found between the skins from frogs acclimated to DW and MgCl2 indicating that DMRC is not unconditionally dependent on environmental Cl- in this species. Frogs acclimated to NaCl showed marked differences when compared to the other groups: the highest Gt, probably represented by a higher paracellular conductance; the lowest transepithelial electrical potential difference which remained invariant after replacement of mucosal Cl- with SO42- or replacement of mucosal Cl- with gluconate and an inwardly oriented positive current in the absence of bilateral Na+.

Acclimatization↗

PubMed2000

Effect of culture acclimation on the kinetics of aldicarb insecticide degradation under methanogenic conditions.

This study reports on the kinetics of aldicarb transformation under methanogenic conditions using batch reactors containing acclimated and unacclimated cultures under controlled conditions. Culture acclimation was accomplished by exposing anaerobic microorganisms maintained in a semi-batch reactor to low concentrations of aldicarb. Results of the kinetic studies showed that in an anaerobic system aldicarb is converted to aldicarb nitrile by the hydrolytic pathway. Analysis of the hydrolysis/dehydration rate constants showed that anaerobic cultures enhanced the rate of conversion of aldicarb by 4-fold for acclimated cultures and by 2-fold for unacclimated cultures compared to the rate of abiotic hydrolysis (p < 0.05). Only the acclimated cultures were able to further mineralize the reaction intermediate aldicarb nitrile. Michaelis-Menten and Monod kinetics adequately defined the aldicarb nitrile degradation.

Acclimatization↗

PubMed1997

Ether lipid composition and molecular species alterations in carp brain (Cyprinus carpio L.) during normoxic temperature acclimation.

Carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) whole brain was used to investigate the thermal acclimation changes under normoxic conditions of three-subclasses (alkenylacyl-, alkylacyl- and diacyl-subclasses) of choline glycerophospholipids (CGP), ethanolamine glycerophospholipids (EGP) and inositol glycerophospholipids (IGP) as well as their acyl chain profiles and molecular species composition. The alkenylacyl subclass of CGP and IGP and the alkylacyl subclass of CGP and EGP varied significantly during summer (25 degrees C) acclimation compared to winter (5 degrees C). The levels of alkenylacyl and alkylacyl-CGP, alkylacyl-EGP and alkenylacyl-IGP were 17.3-, 3.7-, 3.5- and 1.3-fold higher in the summer, respectively, while the alkenylacyl EGP was moderately lower. The levels of diacyl subclasses from CGP and IGP were considerably lower in the summer to compensate for the higher proportion of alkenylacyl and alkylacyl subclasses. Significant changes of ether phospholipids and the reorganization of the molecular species composition of all lipid subclasses may be associated with the "fine tuning" of the physical properties of the cellular membranes in carp brain due to temperature acclimation. The overall acyl chain profile of the three subclasses of carp brain phospholipids showed differences in composition depending upon the subclass of the individual phospholipid. Generally the polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) chain composition increased relative to monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) and saturated fatty acids (SFA) during winter acclimation. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) was richer in the winter compared to summer. However, no DHA was found in ether-containing species of IGP from either winter or summer, except for 2% in alkylacyl-IGP during the summer. The above observations suggest that the content of ether phospholipids (alkenylacyl and alkylacyl) as well as the reorganization of the molecular species composition of all phospholipids may serve to maintain a functional fluid-crystalline state to preserve the signaling functions in carp brain.

Acclimatization↗

PubMed2005

Cloning and expression of three aquaporin homologues from the European eel (Anguilla anguilla): effects of seawater acclimation and cortisol treatment on renal expression.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: The European eel (Anguilla anguilla) is able to osmoregulate over a wide range of environmental salinities from FW (freshwater) to hyperconcentrated SW (seawater). Successful acclimation is associated with strict regulation of ion and water transport pathways within key osmoregulatory epithelia to enable animals to survive the dehydrating or oedematous conditions. These observations suggested that homologues of the AQP (aquaporin) water channel family were expressed in the eel and that these proteins may contribute to the water transport and osmoregulation in all euryhaline teleosts. RESULTS: Complementary DNAs encoding a homologue of the mammalian aquaglyceroporins (termed AQPe) and two homologues of mammalian aquaporin-1 [termed AQP1 and AQP1dup (aquaporin-1 duplicate)] were isolated from the European eel. Northern-blot analysis revealed (i) two AQP1 transcripts exhibiting a wide tissue distribution, (ii) a single AQP1dup mRNA transcript found in the kidney and the oesophagus, and (iii) a single AQPe mRNA detectable mainly in the kidney and the intestine. The relative expression of isoforms within the kidney was AQP1dup>AQPe>AQP1. SW acclimation significantly reduced the abundance of AQP1, AQP1dup and AQPe transcripts in the kidney of yellow eels by approx. 72, 66 and 34% respectively, whereas the expression levels in silver eels were independent of salinity and equivalent to those observed in yellow SW-acclimated fish. AQP1 protein expression was primarily located within the vascular endothelium in yellow eels and the epithelial apical brush border in some renal tubules in silver eels. Infusion of cortisol into FW eels had no effect on AQPe mRNA expression, but induced significant decreases in AQP1 and AQP1dup mRNA levels in the kidney of yellow eels. Cortisol infusion had no effect on the expression of any isoform in the silver eels. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that SW-acclimation or cortisol infusion induces a down-regulation of renal AQP expression in yellow eels. However, the lower levels of aquaporin expression found within the silver eel kidney were not further reduced by salinity transfer or steroid infusion. These differences in mRNA expression were accompanied by changes in the cellular distribution of the AQP1 protein between vascular endothelial and tubular epithelial cells.

Acclimatization↗

PubMed1988

Amino acid and glucose uptake by rat brown adipose tissue. Effect of cold-exposure and acclimation.

The net uptake/release of glucose, lactate and amino acids from the bloodstream by the interscapular brown adipose tissue of control, cold-exposed and cold-acclimated rats was estimated by measurement of arteriovenous differences in their concentrations. In the control animals amino acids contributed little to the overall energetic needs of the tissue; glucose uptake was more than compensated by lactate efflux. Cold-exposure resulted in an enhancement of amino acid utilization and of glucose uptake, with high lactate efflux. There was a net glycine and proline efflux that partly compensated the positive nitrogen balance of the tissue; amino acids accounted for about one-third of the energy supplied by glucose to the tissue. Cold-acclimation resulted in a very high increase in glucose uptake, with a parallel decrease in lactate efflux and amino acid consumption. Branched-chain amino acids, however, were more actively utilized. This was related with a much higher alanine efflux, in addition to that of glycine and proline. It is suggested that most of the glucose used during cold-exposure is returned to the bloodstream as lactate under conditions of active lipid utilization, amino acids contributing their skeletons largely in anaplerotic pathways. On the other hand, cold-acclimation resulted in an important enhancement of glucose utilization, with lowered amino acid oxidation. Amino acids are thus used as metabolic substrates by the brown adipose tissue of rats under conditions of relatively scarce substrate availability, but mainly as anaplerotic substrates, in parallel to glucose. Cold-acclimation results in a shift of the main substrates used in thermogenesis from lipid to glucose, with a much lower need for amino acids.

Adipose Tissue, Brown↗

PubMed1998

Heat acclimation--mechanisms of adaptation to exercise in the heat.

Repeated exposures to exercise and heat produce acclimatization, changes in physiological function by which the tolerance to heat stress is improved. The main issues to be discussed are the possible mechanisms for the increase in plasma volume, the increase in sweating rate and the endocrine responses to exercise with acclimation to both dry and humid heat. This will be discussed on the basis of the literature and our recent and ongoing experiments. We have tried to analyze this by comparing different acclimation procedures: exercise at 50-60% V/O2max, 60-90 min, dry heat 40 degrees C, 20% RH; 40-50% VO2max, 45-51 min, humid heat 35 degrees C, 85% RH; and 70-75% VO2max, 30-35 min, dry heat 40 degrees C, 20% RH. Subjects exercised in dry or humid heat for 8-12 consecutive days. Acclimation was achieved by all procedures, as indicated by a lower heart rate, increased plasma volume and sweating rate. We hypothesize that it is the repeated exposures to high core temperature that induce the changes, possibly via endocrine factors activated by the rising core temperature and the prolonged exercise. The increased sensitivity of the sweat glands for thermal and hormonal stimuli after acclimation may be obtained through an increase in receptor density for neural and humoral stimuli, an increase in the size, or, in number of active sweat glands.

Acclimatization↗

PubMed2005

Anatomical and photosynthetic acclimation to the light environment in species with differing mechanisms of phloem loading.

Plants load sugars from photosynthesizing leaves into the phloem of exporting veins either "apoplastically" (by using H+/sucrose symporters) or "symplastically" (through plasmodesmata). The ability to regulate photosynthesis in response to the light environment was compared among apoplastic loaders (pea and spinach) and symplastic loaders (pumpkin and Verbascum phoeniceum). Plants were grown under low light (LL) or high light (HL) or transferred from LL to HL. Upon transfer, pea and spinach up-regulated photosynthesis to the level found in HL-acclimated plants, whereas up-regulation in pumpkin and V. phoeniceum was limited. The vein density of pea and spinach was the same in HL and LL. Although spinach did not exhibit anatomical or ultrastructural acclimation to the light environment, in pea, wall invaginations in minor vein companion (transfer) cells were more extensive in HL. Furthermore, upon transfer from LL to HL, these invaginations increased in mature pea leaves. Foliar starch levels in mature leaves of plants transferred from LL to HL were not greater than in HL-acclimated leaves of either apoplastically loading species. In the symplastic loaders, plasmodesmatal frequency per loading cell did not vary with treatment, but vein density and thus total plasmodesmatal frequency were higher in HL. Upon transfer of symplastic loaders, however, vein density remained low, and starch levels were higher than in HL; the incomplete acclimation of photosynthesis upon transfer is thus consistent with a carbon export capacity physically limited by an inability to increase vein and plasmodesmatal density in a mature leaf.

Acclimatization↗

PubMed2006

An inorganic carbon transport system responsible for acclimation specific to air levels of CO2 in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

Many photosynthetic microorganisms acclimate to CO(2) limited environments by induction and operation of CO(2)-concentrating mechanisms (CCMs). Despite their central role in CCM function, inorganic carbon (Ci) transport systems never have been identified in eukaryotic photosynthetic organisms. In the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, a mutant, pmp1, was described in 1983 with deficiencies in Ci transport, and a Pmp1 protein-associated Ci uptake system has been proposed to be responsible for Ci uptake in low CO(2) (air level)-acclimated cells. However, even though pmp1 represents the only clear genetic link to Ci transport in microalgae and is one of only a very few mutants directly affecting the CCM itself, the identity of Pmp1 has remained unknown. Physiological analyses indicate that C. reinhardtii possesses multiple Ci transport systems responsible for acclimation to different levels of limiting CO(2) and that the Pmp1-associated transport system is required specifically for low (air level) CO(2) acclimation. In the current study, we identified and characterized a pmp1 allelic mutant, air dier 1 (ad1) that, like pmp1, cannot grow in low CO(2) (350 ppm) but can grow either in high CO(2) (5% CO(2)) or in very low CO(2) (<200 ppm). Molecular analyses revealed that the Ad1/Pmp1 protein is encoded by LciB, a gene previously identified as a CO(2)-responsive gene. LciB and three related genes in C. reinhardtii compose a unique gene family that encode four closely related, apparently soluble plastid proteins with no clearly identifiable conserved motifs.

Acclimatization↗

PubMed1993

Inheritance of freezing resistance in tuber-bearing Solanum species: evidence for independent genetic control of nonacclimated freezing tolerance and cold acclimation capacity.

Frost or winter survival is regarded as a complex trait with polygenic inheritance. Two major components of this survival in crop plants are freezing tolerance in the nonacclimated state and cold acclimation capacity. To date researchers have not distinguished the two components as separate heritable traits. The mode of inheritance of these two traits was investigated in F1 and backcross populations of two wild diploid potato species (Solanum commersonii and Solanum cardiophyllum) exhibiting extremes of freezing tolerance and acclimation capacity. Precise assessment of these two traits allowed distinction of small but significant differences among genotypes. The two traits were not correlated in segregating populations, suggesting independent genetic control. Analyses of generation means indicate that all of the variance for acclimation capacity and a major proportion of the variance for the nonacclimated freezing tolerance can be best explained by an additive-dominance model with both traits being partially recessive. Recovery of parental phenotypes in limited populations suggests that both traits are controlled by relatively few genes. To our knowledge this is the first study demonstrating independent genetic control of the two main traits associated with frost or winter survival. Our results show that it should be possible to incorporate these traits from wild germ plasm into cultivated crop plants by independent selection. These results help explain the lack of progress in improving winter survival through field selection. Furthermore, our study demonstrates relative simplicity of the inheritance of cold acclimation, thus providing avenues for understanding the link between biochemical and genetic aspects of low-temperature stress in crop plants.

Journal Article↗