title: An effect of light on the production of ethylene and the growth of the plumular portion of etiolated pea seedlings.
abstract: The production of ethylene by etiolated pea epicotyls (Pisum sativum L., cv. Alaska) is confined to the plumule and plumular hook portion of the epicotyl, and occurs at a rate of about 6 mul.kg(-1).hr(-1). Such a rate is sufficient to give physiologically active concentrations of ethylene within the tissue. Exposure of etiolated seedlings to a single dose of red light caused a transient decrease in ethylene production and a corresponding increase in plumular expansion. Far-red irradiation following the red light treatment decreased the red effect to the level achieved by the far-red alone, suggesting that the ethylene production mechanism is controlled by phytochrome and thus that the ethylene intervenes as a regulator in the phytochrome control of plumular expansion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Vegetable Crops, University of California, Davis, California 95616.
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Goeschl
authors.forename: H K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Pratt
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Bonner