The cold tolerance of the transgenics relative to wild-type was tested by visual inspection of plants and measurements of ion leakage and malondialdehyde (a measure of lipid peroxidation) release following exposure of the plants to −1 ◦ C for variable periods of time up to 72 h. After 2 and 3 days of exposure to −1 ◦ C, wild-type plants were reported to be more negatively affected than were the transgenics, as assessed by the presence of more wilted leaves in the wild-type plants.