Cold Hardening Prevents H2O2-induced Programmed Cell Death in Maize Coleoptiles

An influence of cold hardening (8 °С, 7 days) on the respiration intensity, the content of reactive oxygen species and DNA fragmentation in coleoptiles of maize etiolated seedlings of different ages and a possibility of the cold hardening to prevent execution of the cell death, induced by treatment with 10 mM H2O2 (for 4 hours) of seedlings have been studied. It has been shown that H2O2induces total DNA fragmentation in coleoptiles of maize etiolated seedlings, and a preliminary cold hardening prevents this process.