Back
Home
1.9 identify some responses of plants to temperature change
- Plants can be damaged at temperature extremes when enzyme structures are altered or membranes change their properties. As many important enzymes that are involved in photosynthesis and respiration are embedded in plant membranes, extremes of temperature can be a major problem.
- In cold conditions, extracellular ice formation causes dehydration. Some plants can tolerate freezing temperatures as low as – 50oC by altering their solute concentrations and through the lack of ice-nucleating sites in cells to prevent intracellular freezing.
- In hot desert conditions, plants have to develop a compromise between access to gases for photosynthesis and access to gases for respiration by keeping their stomates open and cooling by evaporation. This risks dehydration of the plant.