This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Web of Science (38) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Narayana, I. Articles by Saini, H. S. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Narayana, I. Articles by Saini, H. S. Agricola Articles by Narayana, I. Articles by Saini, H. S.

Environmental and Stress Physiology

Water-Stress-Induced Ethylene Production in Wheat ¹

A Fact or Artifact?

Institut de Recherche en Biologie Végétale, Université de Montréal, Montréal, P.Q., Canada H1X 2B2

Effects of water stress on ethylene evolution from excised leaf segments and intact plants of wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv Katepwa) were studied. Excised leaf segments of 8 day or 6 week old plants were dried until they lost 8% of their fresh weight (water potential about –2.3 megapascals). These and nondried control leaf segments (water potential about –1.0 megapascal) were sealed in glass tubes, and their ethylene production rates were compared by head space analysis via gas-chromatography. The dried leaves of both ages produced significantly more ethylene than the corresponding controls. However, when 6 week old intact plants were water-stressed by withholding water supply, and their ethylene production measured using a continuousflow system, no increase in ethylene was deteceted despite a drop in water potential to –2.9 megapascals over 6 days. Even the leaf segments excised from plants that had been subjected to water stress for 2, 4, or 6 days produced no more ethylene (in sealed tubes) than the leaves from well-watered plants. In fact, the ethylene production by these segments decreased with the increase in the severity of stress experienced by the plants. The results show that the commonly reported overproduction of ethylene by excised leaves subjected to rapid drying represents an artifact, which has little relevance to the water stress responses of intact wheat plants.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. Rosado, I. Amaya, V. Valpuesta, J. Cuartero, M. A. Botella, and O. Borsani ABA- and ethylene-mediated responses in osmotically stressed tomato are regulated by the TSS2 and TOS1 loci J. Exp. Bot., September 1, 2006; 57(12): 3327 - 3335. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Tirajoh, T. S. T. Aung, A. B. McKay, and A. L. Plant Stress-responsive {alpha}-dioxygenase expression in tomato roots J. Exp. Bot., February 1, 2005; 56(412): 713 - 723. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				W. Y. Sobeih, I. C. Dodd, M. A. Bacon, D. Grierson, and W. J. Davies Long-distance signals regulating stomatal conductance and leaf growth in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) plants subjected to partial root-zone drying J. Exp. Bot., November 1, 2004; 55(407): 2353 - 2363. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Balota, S. Cristescu, W. A. Payne, S. te Lintel Hekkert, L. J. J. Laarhoven, and F. J. M. Harren Ethylene Production of Two Wheat Cultivars Exposed to Desiccation, Heat, and Paraquat-Induced Oxidation Crop Sci., May 1, 2004; 44(3): 812 - 818. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				W. G. Spollen, M. E. LeNoble, T. D. Samuels, N. Bernstein, and R. E. Sharp Abscisic Acid Accumulation Maintains Maize Primary Root Elongation at Low Water Potentials by Restricting Ethylene Production Plant Physiology, March 1, 2000; 122(3): 967 - 976. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]