Topic 23.21
ABA-Induced Senescence and Ethylene
As we saw in textbook Chapter 22, ethylene has also been found to play a role in the senescence of oat leaf segments, but ABA appears to be the initiating agent, whereas ethylene appears to exert its effects at a later stage. To determine whether the ABA effects are mediated by ethylene, the effects of ABA and ethylene on senescence of leaf discs from wild-type and ethylene-insensitive mutants were compared. Chlorophyll loss from untreated leaf discs of the ethylene-insensitive mutant was much slower than that from the wild type, in the light and in the dark. Ethylene accelerated the chlorophyll loss from the wild-type leaf discs, but it had no effect on the yellowing of the ethylene-insensitive mutant discs. In contrast, treatment with ABA stimulated chlorophyll loss in both the wild-type and the mutant discs, whether they were held in the light or in the dark (Zacarias and Reid 1990). These results indicate that the promotion of senescence by ABA is not mediated through its stimulation of ethylene production.