Effects of ethylene, pollination, and ethylene inhibitor treatments on flower senescence of gentians

Flower senescence of the potted gentian (Gentiana scabra) ‘Shinbisei’ was investigated in relation to ethylene sensitivity and production. ‘Shinbisei’ flowers were used for all experiments except for those with inflorescences. Exposure to ethylene at 0.5 μL L⁻¹ or higher concentrations for 24 h markedly accelerated flower senescence, indicating that G. scabra flowers are highly sensitive to ethylene. Treatment with 0.2 or 0.5 mM silver thiosulfate complex (STS) and 2 μL L⁻¹ 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP), ethylene action inhibitors, and 50 mM α-aminoisobutyric acid, an inhibitor of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) oxidase, did not delay flower senescence. However, treatment with 1 mM l-α-(2-aminoethoxyvinyl) glycine, an inhibitor of ACC synthase, slightly delayed flower senescence. Pollination significantly accelerated petal senescence of G. scabra flowers. Ethylene production of petals, gynoecium, and stamens in unpollinated flowers slightly increased during senescence. Pollination significantly increased ethylene production of petals, gynoecium and stamens 1 day after pollination. To clarify whether 1-MCP delays senescence of cut gentian inflorescences, cut G. scabra ‘Yuki-hotaru’, G. scabra × Gentiana triflora ‘Aoi-kaze’, and G. triflora ‘Koharu’ inflorescences with various stages of flowers, including buds with colored petals, were treated with 2 μL L⁻¹ 1-MCP for 24 h. 1-MCP treatment delayed flower wilting of cut inflorescences of ‘Aoi-kaze’ and ‘Yuki-hotaru’ more than that of ‘Koharu’, suggesting that there is species variation in the effect of 1-MCP in delaying flower senescence of cut gentian inflorescences.     

A non-ACC pathway for ethylene biosynthesis in Botrytis cinerea

Premature softening and tissue senescence occur in kiwifruit infected with Botrytis cinerea. While ethylene production is enhanced in infected fruit and B. cinerea produces ethylene on defined media in vitro the source of ethylene in this pathosystem is unclear. Ethylene production by B. cinerea was enhanced when methionine or ∝-keto-methylthiobutyric acid (KMBA) was added to a defined (modified Pratts) medium. Although 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) did not stimulate ethylene production, ∝-aminooxyacetic acid (AOA) was inhibitory suggesting a role for a pyridoxal phosphate mediated enzyme reaction down stream from the methionine/KMBA stimulated ethylene biosynthetic pathway. Cobalt chloride (Co²⁺) was inhibitory, but after a 4-d lag period ethylene production from B. cinerea cultures containing methionine and Co²⁺ reached the same level as those without Co²⁺. [U ¹⁴C] methionine was converted to ¹⁴C-ethylene with high efficiency indicating that it is a direct precursor, while [2,3 ¹⁴C]-ACC did not yield radioactively labelled ethylene. These results suggest that the ethylene biosynthetic pathway in B. cinerea does not involve ACC as a precursor and that the enzyme responsible for synthesising ethylene is similar to, but different from, ACC oxidase from higher plants. The ethylene biosynthetic pathway in B. cinerea is yet to be determined.     

Morphological characterisation and agronomic evaluation of transgenic broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. var. italica) containing an antisense ACC oxidase gene

Morphological characterisation and agronomic evaluation was conducted on 12 transgenic broccolilines containing a tomato antisense1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) oxidase gene. Plants of three cultivars: Shogun (Sh), Green Beauty (Gy) and Dominator (D), were regenerated from hairy root cultures after co-cultivation with Agrobacterium rhizogenes strain A4T harbouring the binary vector pLN35. The T-DNA of pLN35 contains genes encoding a tomato antisense ACC oxidase gene (35S-ACC-5′7′) and a neomycin phosphotransferase II gene (NOS-NPTII-NOS) for kanamycin resistance. The transgenic plants were transferred to a greenhouse and fertile plants obtained. Integration of the foreign DNA into the broccoli genome was confirmed by the polymerase chain reaction and Southern analyses. Transgenic plants showed evidence of hairy root (HR)-induced morphological changes to varying degrees. Of the 12 characterised transgenic lines, three lines(Gy/7, D/1 and D/2) performed within the limits of acceptability for all head quality parameters analysed (size, density, colour, shape and leafiness). The ethylene production from stalks of four field-grown transgenic lines of Green Beauty broccoli showed significant reductions in activity relative to the control 98 h after harvest. The Dominator transgenic lines D/1 and D/2 showed significant improvements in head colour relative to the control from 48 h after harvest. These results are consistent with the ethylene production patterns determined previously for these lines. The head colour results are consistent with previous results suggesting that two enzyme systems may be involved in broccoli senescence, giving two bursts of ethylene production, with only the second burst inhibited by the antisense ACC oxidase gene used. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

水稻籽粒中乙烯和ACC对土壤水分的反应及其与籽粒灌浆的关系

以武运粳8号(粳稻)和扬稻6号(籼稻)为材,自抽穗后9 d至成熟期进行保持浅水层(WW)、土壤轻度落干(MD)和土壤水分严重亏缺(SD)3种处理。观察在不同土壤水分条件下灌浆期籽粒中乙烯和1-氨基环丙烷1-羧酸（ACC）浓度的变化及其与籽粒灌浆的关系,并使用化学调控物质进行验证。结果表明,MD显著提高籽粒灌浆速率和粒重,SD明显降低籽粒灌浆速率和粒重。籽粒中乙烯释放速率和ACC浓度在MD中降低,在SD中增加。籽粒乙烯释放速率及根系伤流液中ACC浓度与籽粒中ACC浓度呈极显著的正相关。籽粒灌浆速率与乙烯释放速率呈极显著负相关。在花后9~13 d喷施乙烯合成的抑制物质氨基－乙氧基乙烯基甘氨酸(AVG),明显降低籽粒中ACC的浓度和乙烯的释放速率,显著提高了籽粒灌浆速率和粒重以及籽粒中的蔗糖合成酶（SuSase）、ADP葡萄糖焦磷酸化酶（AGPase）和可溶性淀粉合成酶（SSSase）活性;喷施乙烯释放的促进物质乙烯利,结果则相反。表明结实期土壤轻度落干或适度干旱处理可以抑制水稻体内乙烯的产生,促进籽粒灌浆。     

小麦NPR1-like基因的克隆及赤霉菌诱导下的表达分析

AtNPR1是拟南芥系统获得性抗病反应中的关键基因,对拟南芥的广谱抗性起重要调控作用。从赤霉菌诱导的小麦抗、感赤霉病近等基因系RNA差异表达谱中获得3个与AtNPR1类似的EST片段,据此检索相应序列信息并设计引物,采用RT-PCR方法从小麦中克隆得到3个cDNA全长序列,分别命名为TaNPR1、TaNPR2和TaNPR3,其开放阅读框分别编码580、607和601个氨基酸残基。序列分析表明,这3个小麦NPR1-like蛋白都含有保守的BTB/POZ、ANK和NPR1_like_C结构域及功能氨基酸,但仅TaNPR1具有2个对NPR1寡聚体形成十分必要的保守半胱氨酸残基。蛋白质聚类分析表明,TaNPR1与TaNPR2和TaNPR3的同源性均较低,其中TaNPR1与NPR1蛋白聚为一类,而TaNPR2和TaNPR3均与NPR1同源蛋白聚为一类。荧光定量PCR分析结果显示,TaNPR1、TaNPR2和TaNPR3基因都可被植物抗病相关信号分子水杨酸和茉莉酸甲酯诱导。与感病材料Apogee相比,抗病近等基因系Apogee73S2中TaNPR1和TaNPR3能够更早地响应赤霉菌的诱导并显著上调表达;而TaNPR2在感、抗材料中对赤霉菌侵染的响应都较为缓慢且变化不明显。这些结果表明,TaNPR1和TaNPR3可能在小麦对赤霉菌的防御反应中起重要作用。