The Effect of Oligosaccharides on Ethylene Production in Mung Bean (Vigna radiata W.) Hypocotyl Segments

The physiological effects of oligogalacturonic acid (OGA:D. P. 6-7), a product of acid hydrolysis of polygalacturonic acid (PGA), on ethylene biosynthesis in mung bean (Vigna radiata W.) hypocotyl segments was studied. Among PGA, OGA and monogalacturomic acid (MGA), only OGA stimulated ethylene production in mung bean hypocotyl segments, and the most effective concentraton of OGA was 50$\mu\textrm{g}$/mL. Time course data indicated that this stimulatiion effect of OGA appeared after 90 min incubation period and continued until 24 h. When indol-3-acetic acid (IAA) and 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) were treated with OGA to investigate the mechanism of OGA on ethylene production, they did not show synergistic effects on ethylene production. The stimulation of ethylene production by OGA was due to the increase of in vivo ACC synthase activity, but OGA treatment had no effect of in vivo ACC oxidase activity. The effect of aminoethoxy vinyl glycine (AVG) and Co2+, the inhibitor of ethylene synthesis, was siminished a little by the OGA, but the treatment of Ca2+, known to increase ACC, with OGA did not increase the ethylene production, this effect seems to be specific for Ca2+ because other divalent cation, Mg2+, did not show the inhibition of OGA-indyuced ethylene production. It is possible that the OGA adopts a different signal transduction pathway to the ethylene bioxynthesis.