Control of Ethylene Production in Flowers
Kathleen Brown, Associate Professor of Postharvest Physiology
Pennsylvania State University
E-MAIL: kathy_brown@agcs.cas.psu.edu
ETHYLENE EFFORTS:
A PETAL-DROPPING GERANIUM PAINTS A NEW ETHYLENE PICTURE
Who’d have thought a seed-grown geranium notorious for dropping its petals in a flash after pollination would help propel floriculture forward? Ethylene specialist Kathleen Brown (formerly Evensen) did when she started an Endowment-funded study on the plant’s ethylene production and responses in 1994. Because the plant is exquisitely sensitive to ethylene and supercharges its own production of the gas within minutes of pollination, Brown has been able to use the plant to learn more about ethylene in general.She’s learned, for instance, that though many plants rev up ethylene production in response to the activation of key genes, this sensitive geranium usesactivation of an ever-ready enzyme as a cue. Brown is now attempting tofind out how the plant’s petal loss pushes the enzyme into action. Her studies shed light on the challenge ethylene control presents to commercial floriculture. Despite the growing number of anti-ethylene treatments now applied to crops, premature petal drop and senescence still contribute heavily to dumpage. Brown’s seed-grown geraniums indicate that plants with unique ethylene-production-and-response systems will most likely require equally unique postharvest care and handling.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT RESEARCH-PROJECT LEADER:
Kathleen Brown,
Associate Professor of Postharvest Physiology,
Pennsylvania State University
E-MAIL: kathy_brown@agcs.cas.psu.edu
