Li, H., Liu, S., Guo, J., Liu, F.,
Song, F. and Li, X.
2020
Effect of the trans-generational exposure
to elevated CO2 on low temperature tolerance of winter wheat: Chloroplast ultrastructure and carbohydrate metabolism.
Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science,
DOI: 10.1111/jac.12443.
"Li et al. this conclude that exposure to elevated CO2 improves the low temperature tolerance of wheat ...
... the authors report ... Plants grown in the 800 ppm CO2 treatment were found to have consumed more starch, which consumption helped "to generate osmo-regulating substances to prevent low-temperature damage."
CO2 enrichment also increased the production of antioxidant enzymes (relative to ambient CO2 plants) to counter reactive oxygen species' damage.
... which enhances water holding capacity while decreasing the freezing point, was significantly greater in plants in the elevated CO2 treatment.
... the concentration of total soluble sugars was enhanced by elevated CO2, which accumulation also "improves the ability of water retention through enhancing osmotic pressure in tissues."
Li et al. (2020) write that although winter wheat can survive some low temperatures, it "is very sensitive to low-temperature stress during the early seedling stage before winter."
... The experiment was conducted in growth chambers under a controlled environment of ambient (400 ppm) or elevated (800 ppm) CO2 concentrations and day/night temperatures of 25°C/16°C.
After 53 days, half the plants in each CO2 treatment were subjected to low temperature stress (0°C temperatures) for 14 hours."