Concentration dependencies of some effects of ethylene on etiolated pea, peanut, bean, and cotton seedlings.

The effects of a series of concentrations of ethylene (10, 20, 40, to 10,240 nl/l) on elongation, diameter, and geotropism of the stems and roots of etiolated seedlings of Pisum sativum L., Arachis hypogea L., Phaseolus vulgaris L., and Gossypium hirsutum L. were measured or observed. Of the 24 possible responses, 4 were unaffected at the concentrations used, 5 were affected slightly, and the remaining responses exhibited a 14-fold range of apparent half-maximum concentration dependencies (i.e. 95 nl/l for the effect on pea epicotyl geotropism to 1350 nl/l for the promotion of cotton hypocotyl diameter). Six or possibly eight of these responses appear to have the same concentration dependencies while the others fell in pairs or as individual responses. The data, if interpreted in a manner analogous to enzyme kinetics, are indicative of more than one primary mechanism for ethylene action in plants.