Mechanism of Auxin-induced Ethylene Production

Abstract

Indoleacetic acid-induced ethylene production and growth in excised segments of etiolated pea shoots (Pisum sativum L. var. Alaska) parallels the free indoleacetic acid level in the tissue which in turn depends upon the rate of indoleacetic acid conjugation and decarboxylation. Both ethylene synthesis and growth require the presence of more than a threshold level of free endogenous indoleacetic acid, but in etiolated tissue the rate of ethylene production saturates at a high concentration and the rate of growth at a lower concentration of indoleacetic acid. Auxin stimulation of ethylene synthesis is not mediated by induction of peroxidase; to the contrary, the products of the auxin action which induce growth and ethylene synthesis are highly labile.It has been suggested that auxin may stimulate ethylene production by inducing the enzymes involved in the formation of the gas (1). This theory is based primarily upon the finding that inhibitors of protein and RNA synthesis prevent auxininduced ethylene production, and also on the observation that stimulation of ethylene production by auxin has a substantial lag period (1,5,7,18,19). Extracts of pea seedlings contain an enzyme that converts methional to ethylene in a cell-free system (20). The enzyme has been identified as a peroxidase (30), a protein which also catalyzes a number of other reactions including oxidation of IAA (13,14,26). The present study presents evidence which shows the peroxidase content not to play a role in the regulation of ethylene biosynthesis in pea seedlings. Growth, ethylene production, the endogenous IAA content, exogenous IAA level, and rate of metabolism of growth hormone were continuously determined and compared in an attempt to determine the mechanism by which auxin induces ethylene production. (29) which is approximately 100% efficient. The radioactivity remaining in the tissue after alcohol extraction was determined after squashing the sections and drying them on a planchet, under which condition self-absorption was negligible. Enzyme Assay for Ethylene Synthesis. Sections of subapical internodes or plumular hooks were homogenized in 50 mm potassium phosphate buffer at pH 7.8 (10 sections/ml), strained through cheesecloth, and centrifuged at lOOOg for 15 min. The preparation could be further purified by dialysis and ammonium sulfate precipitation as described by Ku et al. for the pea enzyme (20), but a variable loss in activity occurred at each step, making the crude extract preferable for quantitative studies. The resulting supernatant (enzyme preparation) was assayed in 5 ml of reaction mixture described by Yang (30), consisting of 10 mM potassium phosphate buffer (pH 7.8), 0.6 mm methional, 3 em manganese sulfate, 80 mm resorcinol, 2 ytM ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, 80 fM sodium hydrogen sulfite, with 1 ml of enzyme extract. The mixture was incubated at 25 C in a 25-ml Erlenmeyer flask sealed with a vaccine cap, and typically 1-ml samples of air were withdrawn from the flask at 30-min intervals, and ethylene was ...

Mechanism of Naphthaleneacetic Acid Conjugation

“…3) support earlier findings (18) that the level of free auxin in the tissue depends on the activity of the conjugation system. Results (Table II), however, do not support the assumption that NAA conjugates are storage forms (26).…”

Sensitivity to 2,4-D in Sunflower as an Indicator of Tolerance to the Sunflower Midge (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae)

“…2) illustrates the continued stimulation of ethylene production by 2,4-0. This is similar to that found by Kang et al (1971). The remaining eight sunflower hybrids in the study showed similar responses.…”

Relation of Phytochrome-enhanced Geotropic Sensitivity to Ethylene Production

“…The rate of ethylene production from subapical sections incubated in an auxin-free medium is always unusually high during the first 3 to 4 hr after cutting (5,14). This has been referred to as wound ethylene, a phenomenon observed in other tissues (3).…”