Skip to main content
PMC home page
Plant Physiology logoLink to Plant Physiology
. 1984 May;75(1):192–195. doi: 10.1104/pp.75.1.192

Ethylene-Enhanced 1-Aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic Acid Synthase Activity in Ripening Apples 1

Gebhard Bufler 1
PMCID: PMC1066860  PMID: 16663569

Abstract

Apples (Malus sylvestris Mill, cv Golden Delicious) were treated before harvest with aminoethoxyvinylglycine (AVG). AVG is presumed to reversibly inhibit 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) activity, but not the formation of ACC synthase. AVG treatment effectively blocked initiation of autocatalytic ethylene production and ripening of harvested apples. Exogenous ethylene induced extractable ACC synthase activity and ripening in AVG-treated apples. Removal of exogenous ethylene caused a rapid decline in ACC synthase activity and in CO2 production. The results with ripened, AVG-treated apples indicate (a) a dose-response relationship between ethylene and enhancement of ACC synthase activity with a half-maximal response at approximately 0.8 μl/l ethylene; (b) reversal of ethylene-enhanced ACC synthase activity by CO2; (c) enhancement of ACC synthase activity by the ethylene-activity analog propylene.

Induction of ACC synthase activity, autocatalytic ethylene production, and ripening of preclimacteric apples not treated with AVG were delayed by 6 and 10% CO2, but not by 1.25% CO2. However, each of these CO2 concentrations reduced the rate of increase of ACC synthase activity.

Full text

PDF
192

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Adams D. O., Yang S. F. Ethylene biosynthesis: Identification of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid as an intermediate in the conversion of methionine to ethylene. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1979 Jan;76(1):170–174. doi: 10.1073/pnas.76.1.170. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Burg S. P., Burg E. A. Molecular requirements for the biological activity of ethylene. Plant Physiol. 1967 Jan;42(1):144–152. doi: 10.1104/pp.42.1.144. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Lizada M. C., Yang S. F. A simple and sensitive assay for 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid. Anal Biochem. 1979 Nov 15;100(1):140–145. doi: 10.1016/0003-2697(79)90123-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Mattoo A. K., Anderson J. D., Chalutz E., Lieberman M. Influence of enol ether amino acids, inhibitors of ethylene biosynthesis, on aminoacyl transfer RNA synthetases and protein synthesis. Plant Physiol. 1979 Aug;64(2):289–292. doi: 10.1104/pp.64.2.289. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Ness P. J., Romani R. J. Effects of aminoethoxyvinylglycine and countereffects of ethylene on ripening of bartlett pear fruits. Plant Physiol. 1980 Feb;65(2):372–376. doi: 10.1104/pp.65.2.372. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Riov J., Yang S. F. Effects of exogenous ethylene on ethylene production in citrus leaf tissue. Plant Physiol. 1982 Jul;70(1):136–141. doi: 10.1104/pp.70.1.136. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Young R. E., Romani R. J., Biale J. B. Carbon Dioxide Effects on Fruit Respiration . II. Response of Avocados, Bananas, & Lemons. Plant Physiol. 1962 May;37(3):416–422. doi: 10.1104/pp.37.3.416. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Yu Y. B., Adams D. O., Yang S. F. 1-Aminocyclopropanecarboxylate synthase, a key enzyme in ethylene biosynthesis. Arch Biochem Biophys. 1979 Nov;198(1):280–286. doi: 10.1016/0003-9861(79)90420-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Plant Physiology are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

RESOURCES