Investigation of cold stress tolerance in seedlings of pepper (Capsicum annuum) following application of meta-topolin.

Exogenous meta-topolin enhances cold stress tolerance in pepper seedlings by increasing antioxidant activity and reducing cellular damage, especially in the cold-tolerant cultivar Çoban F1.

• Why it matters: Understanding how to improve cold stress resilience in pepper is vital for crop productivity under low-temperature conditions, addressing a key challenge in agriculture.
• What they did: The study applied different concentrations of meta-topolin (0, 0.25, 0.50 mM) to leaves of two pepper cultivars before exposing them to 4°C cold stress, then measured anatomical and physiological responses over time.
• The result: Meta-topolin increased water content, antioxidant activity, and protein levels, while decreasing cellular damage markers like MDA, thereby supporting enhanced cold tolerance in pepper seedlings.