Low temperature sensitivity enhanced by local wounding in Saintpaulia

Hypersensitivity is induced in many species of Acanthaceae and Gesneriaceae by local mechanical wounding. Once a plant of these species sustains a wounded leaf, it exhibits a temporary hypersensitive state and severe injury easily occurrs even in unwounded leaves. Locally wounded African violet (Saintpaulia sp.) plants sometimes show severe injury even at a noninjurious temperature for this species. This study was aimed to clarify changes in the temperature sensitivity of hypersensitivity-induced African violet plants by local wounding. The basal leaves of African violet 'Ritali' plants were cut as a local wounding treatment. The locally wounded plants were transferred to growth chambers at various temperatures and we evaluated the degree of leaf injury using an analysis software. In locally wounded plants, temperature sensitivity increased and leaf injury was observed even at 11°C, which is a noninjurious temperature for unwounded African violet. Such a wound-induced sensitivity to low temperature treatment (7°C for 1 h) quantitatively increased with local wounding severity. For the investigation of time-course changes in the hypersensitive state (wounding memory) of locally wounded plants, the plants were transferred to low temperature conditions at various intervals after the wounding treatment. The wounding memory was short-lived, that is, it was generally observed immediately after local wounding and then almost disappeared 30 min after. In conclusion, the low temperature sensitivity of African violet plants was enhanced by prewounding treatment.