Use of electrolyte leakage to assess floral damage after freezing

Abstract

Abstract Premise With growing interest in the impact of false springs on plant reproduction, there is the need to develop reliable, high‐throughput methods for assessing floral freezing damage. Here we present a method for use with floral tissue that will facilitate more comparative work on floral freezing tolerance in the future. Methods and Results We examined the effectiveness of a modified electrolyte leakage protocol to assess floral freezing damage. By comparing data from temperature response curves to an estimate of visual tissue damage, we optimized the protocol for different floral types and improved the signal‐to‐noise ratio for floral data. Conclusions Our modified protocol provides a quick and straightforward method for quantifying floral freezing damage that can be standardized across floral types. This method allows for cross‐species comparisons and can be a powerful tool for studying broad patterns in floral freezing tolerance.

Keywords

• cold hardiness
• conductivity
• electrolyte leakage
• flower
• freezing tolerance
• temperature response curve