Effect of calcium on growth and cold resistance of grafted eggplant seedlings

The effects of calcium on chilling resistance of grafted and ownroot eggplant seedlings under chilling stress were studied. Solution culture was conducted to study the effects of calciumdeficient treatment on growth and cold resistance of grafted eggplant seedlings. The results showed that under the calciumdeficient conditions the growth of seedlings was seriously inhibited. The contents of total soluble protein, heat stable protein, soluble sugar, intracellular soluble calcium and bound calcium in grafted and ownroot calciumdeficient eggplant seedling leaves were obviously lower than those of calcium sufficiency under low temperature condition. The contents of total protein, heat stable protein, soluble sugar, intracellular soluble calcium and bound calcium of grafted seedlings were all obviously higher than those of ownroot seedlings under the same stress. The study suggested that the higher carbohydrate contents of grafted seedlings might be caused by intracellular calcium variations. The variations of calcium contents were perhaps the main reason that the grafted seedlings were higher in cold resistance than ownroot seedlings. As a result calcium played an important role in increasing the contents of carbohydrate and enhancing cold resistances.