Effect of Ethylene on the Respiratory Response of Isolated Sweet Potato Mitochondria

Abstract

The plant hormone ethylene had no apparent effect on the redox state of the respiratory chain components of sweet potato mitochondria during oxidation of succinate. Low temperature e.p.r. spectra of sweet potato mitochondria, in various respiratory states, were not altered by the presence of ethylene. Oxygen uptake rates and ADP/O ratios of sweet potato mitochondria oxidising malate or succinate were also not affected by ethylene. The role of ethylene in the stimulation of respiration in plant tissues is discussed.