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Ethylene is differentially regulated during sugar beet germination and affects early root growth in a dose-dependent manner

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Main conclusion

By integrating molecular, biochemical, and physiological data, ethylene biosynthesis in sugar beet was shown to be differentially regulated, affecting root elongation in a concentration-dependent manner.

There is a close relation between ethylene production and seedling growth of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.), yet the exact function of ethylene during this early developmental stage is still unclear. While ethylene is mostly considered to be a root growth inhibitor, we found that external 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) regulates root growth in sugar beet in a concentration-dependent manner: low concentrations stimulate root growth while high concentrations inhibit root growth. These results reveal that ethylene action during root elongation is strongly concentration dependent. Furthermore our detailed study of ethylene biosynthesis kinetics revealed a very strict gene regulation pattern of ACC synthase (ACS) and ACC oxidase (ACO), in which ACS is the rate liming step during sugar beet seedling development.

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Acknowledgments

This research and the position of WA are funded by the Department of Biosystems, University of Leuven, which is gratefully acknowledged. BVdP was supported by the Belgian American Educational Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Crop Biotechnics, Department of Biosystems, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Willem de Croylaan 42, bus 2427, 3001, Leuven, Belgium

    Willem Abts & Maurice P. De Proft

  2. Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, University of Maryland, Bioscience Research Building 413, College Park, MD, 20742-5815, USA

    Bram Van de Poel

  3. SESVanderHave N.V., Industriepark Soldatenplein Z2 15, 3300, Tienen, Belgium

    Bert Vandenbussche

Authors
  1. Willem Abts
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  2. Bram Van de Poel
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  3. Bert Vandenbussche
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  4. Maurice P. De Proft
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Correspondence to Willem Abts.

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Abts, W., Van de Poel, B., Vandenbussche, B. et al. Ethylene is differentially regulated during sugar beet germination and affects early root growth in a dose-dependent manner. Planta 240, 679–686 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-014-2124-0

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