Biochemical and biophysical indicators of chilling tolerance in some species of Eucalyptus.

Abstract

Although Eucalyptus species are indigenous to Australia, they have been successfully cultivated in South Africa, where they are mainly used in the mining and paper industries. With the explosion in these industries it has been necessary to increase Eucalyptus plantations, often into areas which experience frost and chilling temperatures. To combat this, high yielding Eucalyptus species able to cope with these conditions would be desirable. The ability to rank species according to their chilling tolerance will enhance decisions as to the suitability of species for use in the field. To this aim, two biochemical and two biophysical parameters were chosen to investigate and characterise Eucalyptus nitens, E. smithii, E. macarthurii, E. grandis and E. grandis x nitens (GNI026). Ranking of these species in terms of chilling tolerance did not appear possible using the data from the biochemical parameters (proline concentration and glutathione reductase activity), but the biophysical parameters (fluorescence characteristics and onset of temperature of melt) gave results comparable to those obtained in field trials using these species. Fluorescence characteristics were particularly useful in assessing the chilling tolerance of the species in question. Fluorescence is the recommended technique for further studies as it is relatively inexpensive, rapid, does not require destructive sampling and can be used in both the laboratory and field.