Cold acclimation improves photosynthesis by regulating the ascorbate–glutathione cycle in chloroplasts of Kandelia obovata

As the most northerly mangrove species in China, Kandelia obovata may undergo extreme cold event stress. Enhancing the cold tolerance of this species is crucial to its successful afforestation. This study aimed to determine the resistance of K. obovata seedlings to low temperature stress by cold acclimation and to explain the mechanisms for alleviating cold injury. To understand these mechanisms, seedlings that were acclimatized and not acclimatized were exposed to 5℃/- 2℃(day/night)for 48 h.Results showed that low temperature stress reduced leaf photosynthesis of non-acclimatized seedlings by inducing oxidative stress and structural damage to chloroplasts. These phenomena were shown by increasing levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), O2-and H2O2, as well as decreasing enzyme activities in the ascorbate–glutathione (AsA-GSH) cycle. However, cold-acclimatized seedlings had improved photosynthetic rates and efficiency of photosystem II (PSII) under low temperature stress. Compared with non-acclimatized seedlings, leaves of coldacclimatized seedlings under low temperature stress for 48 h exhibited higher anti-oxidative enzyme activities, lower levels of O2^- and H2O2, less damage to chloroplast structure, and removed 33.7% of MDA at low temperature stress for 48 h. The data indicate that cold acclimation enhances photosynthetic capacity by effectively regulating activation in the PSII electron transport and the AsA–GSH cycle to scavenge excess ROS in chloroplasts, while the latter is more important.