Effect of Cold Hardening on SOD and Glutathion Reductase Activities and on the Contents of the Reduced Form of Glutathion and Ascorbic Acid in Rice and Cucumber Seedlings

Rice and cucumber seedlings were employed in the study on changes of superoxide dismatase (SOD) and glutathion reductase (GR) activities, the contents of the reduced form of glutathion (GSH) and ascorbic acid (ASA) in leaves and the chilling resistance as well as the level of lipid peroxidation products after cold hardening and chilling stress under light. The seedlings hardened under a day/night temperature variation of 15 ℃/10 ℃ and photon flux density (PFD) of 250μmol · m-2 · s-1 for 12 h/d indicated an increase of the activities of SOD and GR, and the contents of GSH and AsA. The resistance of the seedlings to chilling and light stress was enhanced by cold hardening. Under the stress condition, the stabilities of SOD and GR activities, and contents of GSH and AsA in hardened seedlings were higher than those in the unhardened seedlings; the lipid peroxidation was also less than that in the latter. It was thus concluded that cold-hardening under appropriate light leads on to the enhancement of function of membrane protective system and increase of cell membrane stability which is an important part of chilling-resistance mechanism in the plant.