Selective Enhancement of Alternative Path Capacity in Plant Storage Organs in Response to Ethylene Plus Oxygen: A Comparative Study

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Abstract
The respiration rise in bulky storage organs induced by ethylene plus pure O2 is accompanied by an increase in the CN-resistant respiration, or alternative path. Whereas a lesser respiratory stimulation in response to ethylene is demonstrable in air and increased by peeling, ethylene-induced alternative path development depends on the synergistic effect of pure O2, with or without peeling. The effect of ethylene plus O2 is evident, whether untreated parent organs yield CN-sensitive or CN-resistant fresh slices. Alternative path capacity and maximal cytochrome oxidase-mediated electron transport have been separately estimated. Ethylene plus O2 selectively enhances the alternative path. It is proposed that the gross rise in respiration evoked by ethylene is implemented by a system with an O2 requirement much higher than that of cytochrome oxidase, while the ethylene-induced development of the alternative path depends on a system of still higher O2 requirement.