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JXB Advance Access originally published online on April 29, 2009
Journal of Experimental Botany 2009 60(7):2203-2213; doi:10.1093/jxb/erp103
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© 2009 The Author(s).
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. This paper is available online free of all access charges (see http://jxb.oxfordjournals.org/open_access.html for further details)

RESEARCH PAPER

Low temperature maximizes growth of Crocus vernus (L.) Hill via changes in carbon partitioning and corm development

Maria Lundmark1, Vaughan Hurry1 and Line Lapointe2,*

1Umeå Plant Science Centre, Department of Plant Physiology, Umeå University, S-901 87, Umeå Sweden
2Département de biologie and Centre d’étude de la forêt, Université Laval, Québec City, Québec, Canada G1V 0A6

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: Line.Lapointe{at}bio.ulaval.ca

In Crocus vernus, a spring bulbous species, prolonged growth at low temperatures results in the development of larger perennial organs and delayed foliar senescence. Because corm growth is known to stop before the first visual sign of leaf senescence, it is clear that factors other than leaf duration alone determine final corm size. The aim of this study was to determine whether reduced growth at higher temperatures was due to decreased carbon import to the corm or to changes in the partitioning of this carbon once it had reached the corm. Plants were grown under two temperature regimes and the amount of carbon fixed, transported, and converted into a storable form in the corm, as well as the partitioning into soluble carbohydrates, starch, and the cell wall, were monitored during the growth cycle. The reduced growth at higher temperature could not be explained by a restriction in carbon supply or by a reduced ability to convert the carbon into starch. However, under the higher temperature regime, the plant allocated more carbon to cell wall material, and the amount of glucose within the corm declined earlier in the season. Hexose to sucrose ratios might control the duration of corm growth in C. vernus by influencing the timing of the cell division, elongation, and maturation phases. It is suggested that it is this shift in carbon partitioning, not limited carbon supply or leaf duration, which is responsible for the smaller final biomass of the corm at higher temperatures.

Key words: Acclimation, carbon partitioning, carbon translocation, corm growth, leaf senescence, low temperature, photosynthesis, spring ephemerals

Received 8 December 2008; Revised 4 March 2009 Accepted 6 March 2009


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