Skip to main content
Plant Physiology logoLink to Plant Physiology
. 1981 Sep;68(3):594–596. doi: 10.1104/pp.68.3.594

Biosynthesis of Stress Ethylene Induced by Water Deficit 1

Akiva Apelbaum 1,2, Shang Fa Yang 1
PMCID: PMC425945  PMID: 16661963

Abstract

Wheat leaves normally produced very little ethylene, but following a water deficit stress which caused a loss of 9% initial fresh weight, ethylene production increased more than 30-fold within 4 hours and declined rapidly thereafter. The changes in ethylene production were paralleled by an increase and subsequent decrease in 1-aminocyclopropanecarboxylic acid (ACC) content. The level of S-adenosylmethionine was unaffected, suggesting that the conversion of S-adenosylmethionine to ACC is a key reaction in the production of water stress-induced ethylene. This view was further supported by the observation that application of ACC to nonstressed leaf tissue caused a 70-fold increase in ethylene production, while aminoethoxyvinylglycine, a known inhibitor of the conversion of S-adenosylmethionine to ACC, inhibited ACC accumulation as well as the surge in ethylene production if the inhibitor was applied prior to the stress treatment. Cycloheximide, an inhibitor of protein synthesis, effectively blocked both ethylene production and ACC formation, suggesting that water stress induces de novo synthesis of ACC synthase, which is the rate-controlling enzyme in the pathway of ethylene biosynthesis.

Full text

PDF

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. Adato I., Gazit S. Water-deficit Stress, Ethylene Production, and Ripening in Avocado Fruits. Plant Physiol. 1974 Jan;53(1):45–46. doi: 10.1104/pp.53.1.45. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Ben-Yehoshua S., Aloni B. Effect of Water Stress on Ethylene Production by Detached Leaves of Valencia Orange (Citrus sinensis Osbeck). Plant Physiol. 1974 Jun;53(6):863–865. doi: 10.1104/pp.53.6.863. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bradford K. J., Yang S. F. Xylem Transport of 1-Aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic Acid, an Ethylene Precursor, in Waterlogged Tomato Plants. Plant Physiol. 1980 Feb;65(2):322–326. doi: 10.1104/pp.65.2.322. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Glazer R. I., Peale A. L. Measurement of S-adenosyl-L-methionine levels by SP Sephadex chromatography. Anal Biochem. 1978 Dec;91(2):516–520. doi: 10.1016/0003-2697(78)90538-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. 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]
  7. 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]
  8. McGlasson W. B., Pratt H. K. Effects of Wounding on Respiration and Ethylene Production by Cantaloupe Fruit Tissue. Plant Physiol. 1964 Jan;39(1):128–132. doi: 10.1104/pp.39.1.128. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. McMichael B. L., Jordan W. R., Powell R. D. An effect of water stress on ethylene production by intact cotton petioles. Plant Physiol. 1972 Apr;49(4):658–660. doi: 10.1104/pp.49.4.658. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. 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]
  11. Yu Y. B., Adams D. O., Yang S. F. Regulation of Auxin-induced Ethylene Production in Mung Bean Hypocotyls: Role of 1-Aminocyclopropane-1-Carboxylic Acid. Plant Physiol. 1979 Mar;63(3):589–590. doi: 10.1104/pp.63.3.589. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Yu Y. B., Yang S. F. Auxin-induced Ethylene Production and Its Inhibition by Aminoethyoxyvinylglycine and Cobalt Ion. Plant Physiol. 1979 Dec;64(6):1074–1077. doi: 10.1104/pp.64.6.1074. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Yu Y. B., Yang S. F. Biosynthesis of wound ethylene. Plant Physiol. 1980 Aug;66(2):281–285. doi: 10.1104/pp.66.2.281. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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

RESOURCES