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Nonphysiological Binding of Ethylene by Plants

United States Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Research Service, Appalachian Fruit Research Station, Kearneysville, West Virginia 25430

Ethylene binding to seedling tissue of Vicia faba, Phaseolus vulgaris, Glycine max, and Triticum aestivum was demonstrated by determining transit time required for ethylene to move through a glass tube filled with seedling tissue. Transit time for ethylene was greater than that for methane indicating that these tissues had an affinity for ethylene. However, the following observations suggest that the binding was not physiological. Inhibitors of ethylene action such as Ag⁺ ions and CO₂ did not decrease binding. Mushrooms which have no known sites of ethylene action also demonstrated ethylene binding. The binding of acetylene, propylene, ethylene, propane, and ethane more closely followed their solubility in water than any known physiological activity.