Characterizing the effects of different chemicals on stem bending of cut snapdragon flower

Abstract

Background This study investigated the effects of ethylene release compounds (ethephon), ethylene-action inhibitors (silver thiosulfate: STS), and nitric oxide donor (sodium nitroprusside: SNP) on stem bending of snapdragon flowers. Moreover, the effects of plant growth supplements [6-benzyladenine (BA), gibberellic acid 3 (GA3), and calcium chloride (CaCl2)] on the stem bending were also extensively investigated. Results Ethephon completely prevented stem bending until 9 days after treatment (9 DAT). STS exhibited the highest bending rate, while SNP did not significantly affect the bending compared to the controls. The bending results were associated with the results of stem curvature, relative shoot elongation, ethylene production, and lignin content, that are involved in the stem bending mechanism. This was proven by the expression analysis of genes involved in ethylene and lignin biosynthetic pathways. The addition of plant growth supplements slightly or significantly delayed stem bending in the treatments (control, SNP, and STS) and significantly reduced petal senescence in ethephon at 9 DAT. Conclusion These results show the preventive role of ethephon in the stem bending of cut snapdragon. Moreover, the combination of ethephon with supplements also provided information that could guide the development of strategies to delay stem bending in other cut flowers that undergo serious bending during a short vase life.

Physiological and Anatomical Studies on the Bending in Rose and Gerbera Cut Flowers Treated With Silver Nanoparticles and Thyme Oil

“…Similar results were obtained on gerbera-cut flowers by El-Shawa et al (2019). Low lignin content debilitates the hardness of the stem and the vascular tissue, which led to decreasing the mechanical resistance to the whole flower as well as obstructing water and mineral transfer to flowers, thereby leading to speedy stem bending on snapdragon (Naing et al, 2021;Soe et al, 2022). The maintenance of lignin content by SNPs could be associated with the inhibitory effect of SNPs on ethylene production and increasing antioxidant enzyme activities (CAT, SOD, and POX), which has been reported in rose (Hassan et al, 2014).…”