Skip to main content
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences logoLink to Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
. 1998 Sep 29;353(1374):1431–1438. doi: 10.1098/rstb.1998.0298

The molecular basis of ethylene signalling in Arabidopsis.

K Woeste 1, J J Kieber 1
PMCID: PMC1692355  PMID: 9800206

Abstract

The simple gas ethylene profoundly influences plants at nearly every stage of growth and development. In the past ten years, the use of a genetic approach, based on the triple response phenotype, has been a powerful tool for investigating the molecular events that underlie these effects. Several fundamental elements of the pathway have been described: a receptor with homology to bacterial two-component histidine kinases (ETR1), elements of a MAP kinase cascade (CTR1) and a putative transcription factor (EIN3). Taken together, these elements can be assembled into a simple, linear model for ethylene signalling that accounts for most of the well-characterized ethylene mediated responses.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (166.2 KB).

Selected References

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

  1. Alessi D. R., Saito Y., Campbell D. G., Cohen P., Sithanandam G., Rapp U., Ashworth A., Marshall C. J., Cowley S. Identification of the sites in MAP kinase kinase-1 phosphorylated by p74raf-1. EMBO J. 1994 Apr 1;13(7):1610–1619. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1994.tb06424.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Apelbaum A., Burg S. P. Altered Cell Microfibrillar Orientation in Ethylene-treated Pisum sativum Stems. Plant Physiol. 1971 Nov;48(5):648–652. doi: 10.1104/pp.48.5.648. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Avruch J., Zhang X. F., Kyriakis J. M. Raf meets Ras: completing the framework of a signal transduction pathway. Trends Biochem Sci. 1994 Jul;19(7):279–283. doi: 10.1016/0968-0004(94)90005-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Baskin T. I., Wilson J. E., Cork A., Williamson R. E. Morphology and microtubule organization in Arabidopsis roots exposed to oryzalin or taxol. Plant Cell Physiol. 1994 Sep;35(6):935–942. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Bent A. F., Innes R. W., Ecker J. R., Staskawicz B. J. Disease development in ethylene-insensitive Arabidopsis thaliana infected with virulent and avirulent Pseudomonas and Xanthomonas pathogens. Mol Plant Microbe Interact. 1992 Sep-Oct;5(5):372–378. doi: 10.1094/mpmi-5-372. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Beyer E. M. A potent inhibitor of ethylene action in plants. Plant Physiol. 1976 Sep;58(3):268–271. doi: 10.1104/pp.58.3.268. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Bleecker A. B., Estelle M. A., Somerville C., Kende H. Insensitivity to Ethylene Conferred by a Dominant Mutation in Arabidopsis thaliana. Science. 1988 Aug 26;241(4869):1086–1089. doi: 10.1126/science.241.4869.1086. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Campbell J. S., Seger R., Graves J. D., Graves L. M., Jensen A. M., Krebs E. G. The MAP kinase cascade. Recent Prog Horm Res. 1995;50:131–159. doi: 10.1016/b978-0-12-571150-0.50011-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Chang C., Kwok S. F., Bleecker A. B., Meyerowitz E. M. Arabidopsis ethylene-response gene ETR1: similarity of product to two-component regulators. Science. 1993 Oct 22;262(5133):539–544. doi: 10.1126/science.8211181. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Chang C., Meyerowitz E. M. The ethylene hormone response in Arabidopsis: a eukaryotic two-component signaling system. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1995 May 9;92(10):4129–4133. doi: 10.1073/pnas.92.10.4129. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Chao Q., Rothenberg M., Solano R., Roman G., Terzaghi W., Ecker J. R. Activation of the ethylene gas response pathway in Arabidopsis by the nuclear protein ETHYLENE-INSENSITIVE3 and related proteins. Cell. 1997 Jun 27;89(7):1133–1144. doi: 10.1016/s0092-8674(00)80300-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Daum G., Eisenmann-Tappe I., Fries H. W., Troppmair J., Rapp U. R. The ins and outs of Raf kinases. Trends Biochem Sci. 1994 Nov;19(11):474–480. doi: 10.1016/0968-0004(94)90133-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Goeschl J. D., Rappaport L., Pratt H. K. Ethylene as a factor regulating the growth of pea epicotyls subjected to physical stress. Plant Physiol. 1966 May;41(5):877–884. doi: 10.1104/pp.41.5.877. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Guzmán P., Ecker J. R. Exploiting the triple response of Arabidopsis to identify ethylene-related mutants. Plant Cell. 1990 Jun;2(6):513–523. doi: 10.1105/tpc.2.6.513. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Heidecker G., Kölch W., Morrison D. K., Rapp U. R. The role of Raf-1 phosphorylation in signal transduction. Adv Cancer Res. 1992;58:53–73. doi: 10.1016/s0065-230x(08)60290-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Hobbie L., Timpte C., Estelle M. Molecular genetics of auxin and cytokinin. Plant Mol Biol. 1994 Dec;26(5):1499–1519. doi: 10.1007/BF00016487. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Hua J., Chang C., Sun Q., Meyerowitz E. M. Ethylene insensitivity conferred by Arabidopsis ERS gene. Science. 1995 Sep 22;269(5231):1712–1714. doi: 10.1126/science.7569898. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Kende H. Enzymes of ethylene biosynthesis. Plant Physiol. 1989 Sep;91(1):1–4. doi: 10.1104/pp.91.1.1. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Kieber J. J., Ecker J. R. Ethylene gas: it's not just for ripening any more! Trends Genet. 1993 Oct;9(10):356–362. doi: 10.1016/0168-9525(93)90041-f. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Kieber J. J., Rothenberg M., Roman G., Feldmann K. A., Ecker J. R. CTR1, a negative regulator of the ethylene response pathway in Arabidopsis, encodes a member of the raf family of protein kinases. Cell. 1993 Feb 12;72(3):427–441. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(93)90119-b. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Kieber J. J. The ethylene response pathway in Arabidopsis. Annu Rev Plant Physiol Plant Mol Biol. 1997;48:277–296. doi: 10.1146/annurev.arplant.48.1.277. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Kieber J. J. The ethylene signal transduction pathway in Arabidopsis. J Exp Bot. 1997 Feb;48(307):211–218. doi: 10.1093/jxb/48.2.211. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Kolch W., Heidecker G., Kochs G., Hummel R., Vahidi H., Mischak H., Finkenzeller G., Marmé D., Rapp U. R. Protein kinase C alpha activates RAF-1 by direct phosphorylation. Nature. 1993 Jul 15;364(6434):249–252. doi: 10.1038/364249a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Lawton K. A., Potter S. L., Uknes S., Ryals J. Acquired Resistance Signal Transduction in Arabidopsis Is Ethylene Independent. Plant Cell. 1994 May;6(5):581–588. doi: 10.1105/tpc.6.5.581. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Lehman A., Black R., Ecker J. R. HOOKLESS1, an ethylene response gene, is required for differential cell elongation in the Arabidopsis hypocotyl. Cell. 1996 Apr 19;85(2):183–194. doi: 10.1016/s0092-8674(00)81095-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Lukat G. S., Lee B. H., Mottonen J. M., Stock A. M., Stock J. B. Roles of the highly conserved aspartate and lysine residues in the response regulator of bacterial chemotaxis. J Biol Chem. 1991 May 5;266(13):8348–8354. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. McKeown M. Alternative mRNA splicing. Annu Rev Cell Biol. 1992;8:133–155. doi: 10.1146/annurev.cb.08.110192.001025. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Morrison D. K., Heidecker G., Rapp U. R., Copeland T. D. Identification of the major phosphorylation sites of the Raf-1 kinase. J Biol Chem. 1993 Aug 15;268(23):17309–17316. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Ohme-Takagi M., Shinshi H. Ethylene-inducible DNA binding proteins that interact with an ethylene-responsive element. Plant Cell. 1995 Feb;7(2):173–182. doi: 10.1105/tpc.7.2.173. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Papin C., Eychène A., Brunet A., Pagès G., Pouysségur J., Calothy G., Barnier J. V. B-Raf protein isoforms interact with and phosphorylate Mek-1 on serine residues 218 and 222. Oncogene. 1995 Apr 20;10(8):1647–1651. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Parkinson J. S. Signal transduction schemes of bacteria. Cell. 1993 Jun 4;73(5):857–871. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(93)90267-t. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Pickett F. B., Wilson A. K., Estelle M. The aux1 Mutation of Arabidopsis Confers Both Auxin and Ethylene Resistance. Plant Physiol. 1990 Nov;94(3):1462–1466. doi: 10.1104/pp.94.3.1462. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Roman G., Lubarsky B., Kieber J. J., Rothenberg M., Ecker J. R. Genetic analysis of ethylene signal transduction in Arabidopsis thaliana: five novel mutant loci integrated into a stress response pathway. Genetics. 1995 Mar;139(3):1393–1409. doi: 10.1093/genetics/139.3.1393. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. Schaller G. E., Bleecker A. B. Ethylene-binding sites generated in yeast expressing the Arabidopsis ETR1 gene. Science. 1995 Dec 15;270(5243):1809–1811. doi: 10.1126/science.270.5243.1809. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. Steen D. A., Chadwick A. V. Ethylene Effects in Pea Stem Tissue : EVIDENCE OF MICROTUBULE MEDIATION. Plant Physiol. 1981 Mar;67(3):460–466. doi: 10.1104/pp.67.3.460. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  36. Stock J. B., Stock A. M., Mottonen J. M. Signal transduction in bacteria. Nature. 1990 Mar 29;344(6265):395–400. doi: 10.1038/344395a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  37. Van Aelst L., Barr M., Marcus S., Polverino A., Wigler M. Complex formation between RAS and RAF and other protein kinases. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1993 Jul 1;90(13):6213–6217. doi: 10.1073/pnas.90.13.6213. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  38. Van Der Straeten D., Djudzman A., Van Caeneghem W., Smalle J., Van Montagu M. Genetic and Physiological Analysis of a New Locus in Arabidopsis That Confers Resistance to 1-Aminocyclopropane-1-Carboxylic Acid and Ethylene and Specifically Affects the Ethylene Signal Transduction Pathway. Plant Physiol. 1993 Jun;102(2):401–408. doi: 10.1104/pp.102.2.401. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  39. Vogel J. P., Woeste K. E., Theologis A., Kieber J. J. Recessive and dominant mutations in the ethylene biosynthetic gene ACS5 of Arabidopsis confer cytokinin insensitivity and ethylene overproduction, respectively. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1998 Apr 14;95(8):4766–4771. doi: 10.1073/pnas.95.8.4766. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  40. Wilkinson J. Q., Lanahan M. B., Yen H. C., Giovannoni J. J., Klee H. J. An ethylene-inducible component of signal transduction encoded by never-ripe. Science. 1995 Dec 15;270(5243):1807–1809. doi: 10.1126/science.270.5243.1807. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  41. Wilson A. K., Pickett F. B., Turner J. C., Estelle M. A dominant mutation in Arabidopsis confers resistance to auxin, ethylene and abscisic acid. Mol Gen Genet. 1990 Jul;222(2-3):377–383. doi: 10.1007/BF00633843. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  42. Yen H. C., Lee S., Tanksley S. D., Lanahan M. B., Klee H. J., Giovannoni J. J. The tomato Never-ripe locus regulates ethylene-inducible gene expression and is linked to a homolog of the Arabidopsis ETR1 gene. Plant Physiol. 1995 Apr;107(4):1343–1353. doi: 10.1104/pp.107.4.1343. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  43. Yuan M., Shaw P. J., Warn R. M., Lloyd C. W. Dynamic reorientation of cortical microtubules, from transverse to longitudinal, in living plant cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1994 Jun 21;91(13):6050–6053. doi: 10.1073/pnas.91.13.6050. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  44. Zarembinski T. I., Theologis A. Ethylene biosynthesis and action: a case of conservation. Plant Mol Biol. 1994 Dec;26(5):1579–1597. doi: 10.1007/BF00016491. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  45. Zhou D., Kalaitzís P., Mattoo A. K., Tucker M. L. The mRNA for an ETR1 homologue in tomato is constitutively expressed in vegetative and reproductive tissues. Plant Mol Biol. 1996 Mar;30(6):1331–1338. doi: 10.1007/BF00019564. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences are provided here courtesy of The Royal Society

RESOURCES