Rapidly Induced Wound Ethylene from Excised Segments of Etiolated Pisum sativum L., cv. Alaska

Abstract

Increased ethylene synthesis was rapidly induced throughout the apical meristematic region of etiolated seedlings of Pisum sativum L., cv. Alaska by cuts made 1 centimeter from the apical hook. The wound signal was transmitted at about 2 millimeters per minute. Accumulation of substance(s) at the cut surfaces of excised sections, as the result of interrupted translocation, did not initiate or significantly contribute to wound-induced ethylene synthesis, nor was the cut surface the site of enhanced ethylene synthesis. Cutting subapical sections into shorter pieces showed that cells less than 2 millimeters from a cut surface produced about 30% less ethylene than cells greater than 2 millimeters from a cut surface.