Higher Chilling-Tolerance of Grafted-Cucumber Seedling Leaves upon Exposure to Chilling Stress

The roots of figleaf gourd (Cucurbita ficifolia, as rootstock) could improve the resistance of cucumber plants (Cucumis sativus L. cv. Jinyan 4, as scion) to low temperature. In this experiment, the root activity and photosynthetic activity of photosystems in the own-rooted and grafted-cucumber plants were studied at chilling temperature (4°C) under low irradiance (100 μmol m-2 s-1 PFD). Compared with dark adaptation seedlings, the chlorophyll a fluorescence transient curve and the oxidizable P700 (P700+) of both the own-rooted and grafted seedlings decreased, and PS2 and PS1 of the own-rooted seedling leaves were more inhibited than that of grafted ones at the end of chilling stress. The reduced triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC), which was used to reflect the root activity, kept stable in grafted seedling roots at the end of chilling stress, while it decreased noticeably in the own-rooted seedling roots. These results implied that the root system activity of the grafted seedling roots was higher than that of the own-rooted ones. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity was higher in both the grafted seedling roots and leaves than that in own-rooted seedlings at both room temperature and chilling temperature. Upon exposure to chilling stress, the malondialdehyde (MDA) content, which reflects the degree of lipid peroxidation, increased markedly in the own-rooted seedling roots and leaves and kept stable in the grafted-cucumber seedlings.