Skip to main content
PMC home page
Plant Physiology logoLink to Plant Physiology
. 1981 Jan;67(1):125–128. doi: 10.1104/pp.67.1.125

Light or Ethylene Treatments Induce Transverse Cell Enlargement in Etiolated Maize Mesocotyls

Pamela J Camp 1,1, James L Wickliff 1,2
PMCID: PMC425634  PMID: 16661611

Abstract

Dark-grown maize seedlings (hybrid WF-9 × 38-11) exposed for 1 or more hours to white light and then returned to darkness developed mesocotyls with enlarged apical diameters. This swelling response was an all-or-none response, and the fraction of the seedling population that showed the response depended on seedling age at irradiation. Irradiation of the coleoptile alone was nearly as effective in causing this response as was irradiation of the nodal region of the epicotyl, but irradiation of the mesocotyl base was ineffective. Removal of the coleoptile prior to irradiation did not prevent the formation of the light-induced swelling. Exogenously applied C2H4 (10 microliters per liter) for 24 hours in dark also induced swelling of the mesocotyl. The swelling induced in the intact seedlings was localized in the apical mesocotyl tissues with either light or C2H4 treatment, and maximal response to both treatments occurred with 3- to 4-day-old seedlings. Swelling of the mesocotyl was the result of transverse cell enlargement, not increase of cell numbers. The evidence suggests that light and C2H4 induce mesocotyl swelling in intact maize shoots by a common mechanism.

Full text

PDF
125

Images in this article

126Image
on p.126

Selected References

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

  1. 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]
  2. Apelbaum A., Burg S. P. Effect of Ethylene on Cell Division and Deoxyribonucleic Acid Synthesis in Pisum sativum. Plant Physiol. 1972 Jul;50(1):117–124. doi: 10.1104/pp.50.1.117. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Apelbaum A., Burg S. P. Effects of Ethylene and 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid on Cellular Expansion in Pisum sativum. Plant Physiol. 1972 Jul;50(1):125–131. doi: 10.1104/pp.50.1.125. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Burg S. P., Burg E. A. Inhibition of polar auxin transport by ethylene. Plant Physiol. 1967 Sep;42(9):1224–1228. doi: 10.1104/pp.42.9.1224. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Burg S. P. Ethylene in plant growth. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1973 Feb;70(2):591–597. doi: 10.1073/pnas.70.2.591. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Craker L. E., Abeles F. B., Shropshire W. Light-induced Ethylene Production in Sorghum. Plant Physiol. 1973 Jun;51(6):1082–1083. doi: 10.1104/pp.51.6.1082. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Duke S. O., Wickliff J. L. Zea shoot development in response to red light interruption of the dark-growth period. I. Inhibition of first internode elongation. Plant Physiol. 1969 Jul;44(7):1027–1030. doi: 10.1104/pp.44.7.1027. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Eisinger W. R., Burg S. P. Ethylene-induced Pea Internode Swelling: Its Relation to Ribonucleic Acid Metabolism, Wall Protein Synthesis, and Cell Wall Structure. Plant Physiol. 1972 Oct;50(4):510–517. doi: 10.1104/pp.50.4.510. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Franklin D., Morgan P. W. Rapid Production of Auxin-induced Ethylene. Plant Physiol. 1978 Jul;62(1):161–162. doi: 10.1104/pp.62.1.161. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Goeschl J. D., Pratt H. K., Bonner B. A. An effect of light on the production of ethylene and the growth of the plumular portion of etiolated pea seedlings. Plant Physiol. 1967 Aug;42(8):1077–1080. doi: 10.1104/pp.42.8.1077. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Imaseki H., Pjon C. J., Furuya M. Phytochrome Action in Oryza sativa L: IV. Red and Far Red Reversible Effect on the Production of Ethylene in Excised Coleoptiles. Plant Physiol. 1971 Sep;48(3):241–244. doi: 10.1104/pp.48.3.241. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Samimy C. Effect of light on ethylene production and hypocotyl growth of soybean seedlings. Plant Physiol. 1978 May;61(5):772–774. doi: 10.1104/pp.61.5.772. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Vanderhoef L. N., Briggs W. R. Red Light-inhibited Mesocotyl Elongation in Maize Seedlings: I. The Auxin Hypothesis. Plant Physiol. 1978 Apr;61(4):534–537. doi: 10.1104/pp.61.4.534. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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

RESOURCES