The Effect of Low Temperature on Ethylene Production by Leaf Tissue of Phaseolus vulgaris L.

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Abstract
When leaf discs cut from primary leaves of Phaseolus vulgaris L. cv. Masterpiece plants grown at 25°C were incubated at temperatures below 25 °C, basal and wound ethylene production continued at reduced rates. In both cases detectable levels of ethylene were produced at 25 °C. When the rates of ethylene production were plotted according to the Arrhenius equation a marked discontinuity was found at 11.4 °C which is consistent with a membrane phase-transition at the critical chilling temperature of the plant. Activation energies for the rate-limiting enzyme reaction in ethylene production above and below the critical temperature have been calculated and the data interpreted as indicating the involvement of membrane-bound enzyme systems in the biosynthesis of basal and wound ethylene.