Freezing Stress in Tree Xylem

Stefan Mayr (1) , Thierry Ameglio (2)

1 Institute of Botany
2 PIAF - Laboratoire de Physique et Physiologie Intégratives de l'Arbre Fruitier et Forestier

Freezing in plant xylem is a complex process affecting living and dead components. This book chapter gives a brief overview of methods for analyzing freezing dynamics and tissue damage and focuses on the effects of freezing stress in the xylem symplast and apoplast. Survival strategies, such as supercooling, extracellular freezing, or avoidance of critical bubble formation/expansion in conduits are discussed, and insights from experimental and field studies available in the literature summarized. The final part deals with trees at the Alpine timberline, which are exposed to intense freezing as well as extreme drought stress every winter. Timberline trees are thus an interesting model system to study combined effects of drought and freezing stress in tree xylem and respective avoidance, tolerance, and repair strategies of plants.

Mots clés: arbre; gel; xylème

Domaines: Biologie végétale

Stefan Mayr, Thierry Ameglio. Freezing Stress in Tree Xylem. Progress in Botany 77, 77, Springer International Publishing, 435 p., 2016, 978-3-319-25688-7. ⟨10.1007/978-3-319-25688-7_13⟩. ⟨hal-01342868⟩