Regulation of Auxin Levels in Coleus blumei by Ethylene

Abstract

An investigation of the effects of ethylene pretreatment on several facets of auxin metabolism in Coleus blumei Benth “Scarlet Rainbow” revealed a number of changes presumably induced by the gas. Transport of indoleacetic acid-1-¹⁴C in excised segments of the uppermost internode was inhibited by about 50%. Decarboxylation of indoleacetic acid-1-¹⁴C by enzyme breis was not affected by the pretreatment. Levels of extractable native auxin in upper leaf and apical bud tissue of the pretreated plants were approximately one-half of those present in untreated plants. The rate of formation of auxin from tryptophan by enzyme breis from pretreated plants was approximately one-half that occurring in incubation mixtures containing the enzyme system from untreated plants. The conjugation of indoleacetic acid-1-¹⁴C in a form characterized chromatographically as indoleacetylaspartic acid was increased 2-fold in the upper stem region of plants pretreated with ethylene.