Ethylene and Plant Responses to Abiotic Stress

Abstract

Exposure to physical, chemical or biological stresses is an intrinsic characteristic of plant life not only in the natural environment but also under more or less controlled conditions in horticultural and agricultural systems. Globalisation and concentration of plant production throughout the world, on the one hand, allows for optimizing of growth conditions, but, on the other, increasingly involves post-harvest stress during storage and transport of intermediate and final products (Çelikel and Reid 2002;Kadner and Druege 2004). According to Levitt (1980), the term stress is used for any external factor capable of inducing a potentially injurious strain in the plant. With regard to the condition of the plant, plant stress can be described as a state in which increasing demands made on a plant lead to an initial destabilization of functions, followed by adaptive responses towards normalization, which may even lead to over-compensation of functions and improved resistance (Larcher 1995). However, if the acute tolerance or adaptive capacity is overtaxed, permanent damage or death may result. Within a network of hormonal cross-talk (Gazzarrini and McCourt 2003), ethylene production and signalling are highly involved not only in stress-induced symptoms of disturbed growth, senescence or injury, but also in acclimation processes which aid plant performance and survival.

Effects of ozone exposure on ‘Golden’ papaya fruit by photoacoustic phase-resolved method: Physiological changes associated with carbon dioxide and ethylene emission rates during ripening

“…The overproduction of ethylene, moreover, may be responsible for localized cell death in ozone-treated plants. 21 This corroborates our PA absorbance measurements because the chlorophyll band is completely destroyed after 96 h ozone treatment, while in the control sample the same event takes place at least 24 h later.…”

“…34 Ozone fumigation can also lead to a production of ethylene by increasing ACS and ACC oxidase (ACO) gene transcription. 21 Ethylene is directly related to ripening process in fruit. 35 Hence the anticipation of the climacteric peak (Fig.…”

“…19 Furthermore, a plant's ethylene production, which represents its general reaction to stress, increases in response to both water shortage and elevated ozone. 20,21 It has also been found that the increase of ethylene generation in tomato leaves exposed to ozone can be explained by a higher 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) synthase activity induced by O 3 . 22 Most likely, damage occurs after stomatal uptake of ozone, which results in oxidative destruction of lipids and protein of the plasma membrane and production of free radicals or other reactive intermediates.…”

Ameliorative effect of brassinosteroid and ethylene on germination of cucumber seeds in the presence of sodium chloride

“…As a gaseous hormone, ethylene is involved in numerous plant growth and developmental processes, including seed germination, root hair initiation, senescence, fruit ripening and a number of abiotic stresses (Matilla 2000;Klee and Clark 2004;Nath et al 2006). Ethylene is closely associated with other hormones in terms of its signaling transduction and mediation of physiological processes (Druege 2006). There are two key enzymes involved in ethylene production in plants.…”

Preplant Application of 1-Methylcyclopropene Improves Postplanting Performance of Tomato Transplants by Suppressing Ethylene-induced Stress Responses

“…Transplant shock is not simply physical damage in seedlings, but it is the consequence of adaptive stress responses regulated by multiple phytohormones to cope with dynamic changes in growing conditions (Srivastava, 2002;Taiz and Zeiger, 2010). For example, mechanical stress during shipping and transplanting operations stimulates the synthesis of ethylene in seedlings (Druege, 2006). As a strong antagonist of gibberellic acid, increased production of this gaseous phytohormone inhibits stem elongation and leaf expansion, while promoting stem thickening (Biddington, 1986;Khan, 2006;Tholen et al, 2006).…”