Biology and Biotechnology of the Plant Hormone Ethylene

• 1. Biochemical and Molecular Mechanisms of Ethylene Synthesis.- Structure-function analysis of tomato ACC synthase.- Structure-function analysis of ACC oxidase by site-directed mutagenesis.- 1-Aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate oxidase: molecular structure and catalytic function 1.- On 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) oxidase: Degradation of ?-aminoisobutyric acid and structure-function studies on the CO2 binding site.- Regulation of auxin-induced ethylene biosynthesis in etiolated pea stems.- The role of jasmonates in ethylene biosynthesis.- Ethylene biosynthesis and its regulation in ripening “Hayward” kiwifruit.- 2. Perception and Signal Transduction Pathways.- Two-component regulators and ethylene signal transduction in Arabidopsis.- The Ethylene Binding Site of the ETR1 Protein.- The ethylene receptor gene family in Arabidopsis.- Ethylene signal perception and transduction.- 3. Growth and Development.- Ethylene and Arabidopsis rosette development.- Ethylene regulates life-span in cells of reproductive organs in Pisum sativum.- Fluctuations in ethylene formation and flowering in Chenopodium rubrum.- Regulation of circadianly rhythmic ethylene production by phytochrome B in Sorghum.- Ethylene involvement in the dormancy of Amaranthus seeds.- Control of gene transcription by ethylene during tomato fruit ripening.- Molecular genetic analysis of ethylene-regulated and developmental components of tomato fruit ripening: Ethylene and Developmental Signal Transduction in Tomato.- The role of ethylene in banana fruit ripening.- The modulation of ethylene biosynthesis and ACC oxidase gene expression during peach fruit development and fruitlet abscission.- 4. Ethylene and Senescence of Plant Organs.- Transcriptional regulation of senescence-related genes incarnation flowers.- Ethylene: interorgan signaling and modeling of binding site structure.- An ethylene-regulated DNA element in abscission-specific gene promoters and the expression of an ETR1 homologue in tomato abscission.- Spatial and temporal expression of abscission related genes during ethylene-promoted organ shedding.- Different endo-?-l, 4-glucanases are expressed during abscission and fruit ripening in pepper and peach plants.- The tomato endo-?-1, 4-glucanase gene family: regulation by both ethylene and auxin.- 5. Stress Ethylene.- Ethylene synthesis and a role in plant responses to different stressors.- Ethylene and the defense against endogenous oxidative stress in higher plants.- Potamogeton pectinatus: a vascular plant that makes no ethylene.- Hypoxia and fruit ripening.- Ethylene regulation by the nitric oxide (NO) free radical: a possible mode of action of endogenous NO.- Ethylene synthesis in tomato plants exposed to ozone: The Role of Ethylene in Ozone Damage.- Involvement of ethylene in protein elicitor-induced plant responses.- Changes in in vivo and in vitro ACC oxidase activities during chilling and subsequent warming as exemplified by Vigna radiata seedlings.- Impact assessment for ethylene emissions at a petrochemical site.- 6. Biotechnological Control of Ethylene.- Potential applications of controlling ethylene synthesis and perception in transgenicplants.- Regulation of ethylene synthesis and perception in tomato and its control using gene technology.- Reduced ethylene synthesis and ripening control in tomatoes expressing S-adenosylmethionine hydrolase.- Interactions of ethylene and polyamines in regulating fruit ripening.- Differential expression of ACC oxidase genes in melon and physiological characterization of fruit expressing anantisense ACC oxidase.- Genetic modification of ethylene biosynthesis and ethylene sensitivity in carnation.- Modulation of ethylene production in transgenic tobacco.- Index of Authors.- Index of Keywords.

'This book can be recommended for researchers and students interested in plant biology, biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology.' Acta Physiologiae Plantarum, 20:3 (1998) 'All these matters are discussed in this well-presented volume. It is a mine of current information on the central role of ethylene in plant life. But the editors'Prologos says it all: 'this will be of major interest to all academic, industrial and agricultural researchers...' Annals of Botany 81:673-685 (1998)