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Selective Enhancement of Alternative Path Capacity in Plant Storage Organs in Response to Ethylene Plus Oxygen: A Comparative Study ¹

Department of Biology and Molecular Biology Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90024

The respiration rise in bulky storage organs induced by ethylene plus pure O₂ is accompanied by an increase in the CN-resistant respiration, or alternative path. Whereas a lesser respiratory stimulation in response to ethylene is demonstrable in air and increased by peeling, ethylene-induced alternative path development depends on the synergistic effect of pure O₂, with or without peeling. The effect of ethylene plus O₂ is evident, whether untreated parent organs yield CN-sensitive or CN-resistant fresh slices. Alternative path capacity and maximal cytochrome oxidase-mediated electron transport have been separately estimated. Ethylene plus O₂ selectively enhances the alternative path. It is proposed that the gross rise in respiration evoked by ethylene is implemented by a system with an O₂ requirement much higher than that of cytochrome oxidase, while the ethylene-induced development of the alternative path depends on a system of still higher O₂ requirement.

³ To whom reprint requests should be addressed.

¹ Supported by Grant GM 19807 from the United States Public Health Service (to G. G. L.).