Low temperature tolerance of 11 germplasms of Lagenaria siceraria(Mol.)stand under cold stress and low light

Low temperature tolerance of 11 germplasms of Lagenaria siceraria(Mol.)Stand was studied under the stress of low temperature and dim light.Six biochemical and physiological indices and major chemical components were used for the analysis.Results revealed that the low temperature tolerance abilities of these 11 accessionscould be effectively differentiated by the stress test in 7 days,and that the biochemical and physiological indices and chemical composition could be applied for species evaluation.The 11 accessions were thus clustered into 4 groups with varying degrees of low temperature tolerance,i.e.,2 cold tolerant,5 cold semi-tolerant,3 cold semi-sensitive,and 1 cold sensitive germplasm.