Banana is one of the most important food and fruit crops in the world and its growth is ceasing at 10-17 °C. However, the mechanisms determining the tolerance of banana to mild (>15 °C) and moderate chilling (10-15 °C) are elusive. Furthermore, the biochemical controls over the photosynthesis in tropical plant species at low temperatures above 10 °C is not well understood. The purpose of this research was to reveal the response of chilling-sensitive banana to mild (16 °C) and moderate chilling stress (10 °C) at the molecular (transcripts, proteins) and physiological levels. The results showed different transcriptome responses between mild and moderate chilling stresses, especially in pathways of plant hormone signal transduction, ABC transporters, ubiquinone, and other terpenoid-quinone biosynthesis. Interestingly, functions related to carbon fixation were assigned preferentially to upregulated genes/proteins, while photosynthesis and photosynthesis-antenna proteins were downregulated at 10 °C, as revealed by both digital gene expression and proteomic analysis. These results were confirmed by qPCR and immunofluorescence labeling methods. Conclusion: Banana responded to the mild chilling stress dramatically at the molecular level. To compensate for the decreased photosynthesis efficiency caused by mild and moderate chilling stresses, banana accelerated its carbon fixation, mainly through upregulation of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylases.

Centre of the Region Haná for Biotechnological and Agricultural Research Department of Cell Biology Faculty of Science Palacký University 783 71 Olomouc Czech Republic

Department of Pomology College of Horticulture South China Agricultural University Guangzhou 510642 China

Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Tropical and Subtropical Fruit Tree Research Institute of Fruit Tree Research Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences Guangzhou 510640 China

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