ISHS Acta Horticulturae 405: VI International Symposium on Postharvest Physiology of Ornamental Plants
PLANTS RESPOND DIFFERENTLY TO EITHER DYNAMIC OR STATIONARY ETHYLENE EXPOSURE |
| Authors: | L. Høyer, Terril A. Nell |
| Abstract:
The factors most often considered in evaluating plant response to external ethylene are constant ethylene concentrations, exposure time and temperature. However, other factors, such as carbon dioxide concentration, atmospheric pressure, light and humidity, are dependent on the experimental system and are not normally considered to be important. However, when comparing the responses of different plant materials to ethylene exposure utilizing different experimental designs and to responses observed in commercial horticulture, it appears that plants are more ethylene sensitive in the experimental systems. In an attempt to explain these differences, the effects of dynamic ethylene exposure have been compared to the effect of stationary ethylene exposure. This comparison has been carried out using a model system, which specifically looks at leaflet abscission in response to ethylene exposure. Preliminary results indicate that when ethylene exposures in darkness are interrupted with light periods the response time is reduced by 40%. Also, when temperature or ethylene levels are varied during the ethylene exposure, the response time is influenced considerably. | |
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