Swelling and Contraction of Mitochondria from Cold-hardened and Nonhardened Wheat and Rye Seedlings

A comparison of mitochondria isolated from 2 and 24 C grown winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and winter rye (Secale cereale L.) seedlings revealed no correlation between changes in swelling and contraction characteristics and extent of cold hardiness. The swelling response changed markedly due to growth at low temperature, but the change was similar for the four cultivars examined. The swelling response was also observed to change rapidly during aging of isolated mitochondria, either at 2 or 24 C. Spontaneously swollen mitochondria, isolated from 24 C grown seedlings, contracted abruptly upon addition of certain oxidizable substrates, but this response was lost when seedlings were transferred from 24 to 2 C. Studies on the effect of various substrates and respiratory inhibitors on the swelling and contraction responses indicate that inhibitors which reduce or stop electron flow through the electron transport chain also inhibit substrate induced mitochondrial contraction.