E. Elstner, J. Konze
Sep 1, 1974
Citations
0
Influential Citations
47
Citations
Journal
FEBS Letters
Abstract
Ethylene is a plant hormone with effects on plant growth and development [ 11. Its biosynthesis has been studied by many investigators, and methionine, 2-keto-4-mercaptomethylbutyrate (KMB) or 3-mercaptomethylpropanol (methional) have been proposed as the most likely precursors [2]. The absolute reyuirement for oxygen in the synthesis of ethylene has been pointed out (cf. [l] ). Yang et al. [3-41 and Mapson and Wardale [6] described model reactions, which proposed the involvement of oxygen radicals in ethylene production. Beauchamp and Fridovich [7] could show, that the reactive species in the formation of ethylene from methional in the presence of xanthin and xanthinoxidase was probably the OH-radical. Evidence was provided recently, that illuminated chloroplasts are able to reduce oxygen yielding both H2 O2 [8--l 0] and the superoxide free radical ion O2 .[ 11~ 141. This communication describes the formation ethylene from KMB or methional by illuminated chloroplast lamellae. The results provide evidence, that the OH-radical is active in generating ethylene from the above substrates.