Agriculture Commons^™

Light Level Does Not Alter Ethylene Sensitivity In Radish Or Pea, Joseph F. Romagnano, Bruce Bugbee

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

Ethylene accumulation occurs in many plant growth environments. In some instances, low photosynthetic photon flux (PPF) is also a stress factor. Ethylene helps regulate the shade-avoidance mechanism and synthesis rates can be altered by light. We thus hypothesized that ethylene sensitivity in whole plants may be altered in low light. Radish (Raphanus sativus) and pea (Pisum sativum) plants were selected as models due to their rapid growth, use in previous studies and difference in growth habit. We first characterized radish and pea sensitivity to ethylene. Radish vegetation was less sensitive to ethylene than pea vegetation. Pea reproductive yield was highly …