Abstract
Ethylene is a natural plant growth regulator often produced in sufficient quantities to alter cellular and developmental processes in a characteristic hormonal manner1. Almost all phases of plant development are affected, including germination, growth, flowering, dormancy, abscission, senescence and sex expression. The earlier view that ethylene is metabolically inert2–4 has been shown to be untenable5–7; low but readily detectable rates of ethylene metabolism have been observed in several plant tissues. These and other studies8–10 indicate that this metabolism does not represent a system for the removal of the ethylene but instead represents the initial biochemical events in the action of ethylene in the plant. Here we report that one of the stable end-products of this ethylene metabolism is ethylene glycol, while for the ethylene mimic propylene, it is 1,2-propanediol.
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Blomstrom, D., Beyer, E. Plants metabolise ethylene to ethylene glycol. Nature 283, 66–68 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1038/283066a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/283066a0
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