Mitigation of Ethylene-promoted Leaf Senescence by a Natural Lipid, Lysophosphatidylethanolamine

Abstract

Mitigation of ethylene promoted leaf senescence by lysophosphatidylethanolamine (LPE) was studied. Micropropagated `Russet Burbank' potato (Solanum tuberosum L.,) plantlets were grown on MS media in sterile culture tubes. After 2 weeks of growth, tubes were sealed and ethylene gas was applied to obtain 5 nL·L–1 final concentration in the culture tubes. Observations and measurements were taken two weeks after ethylene injection. Potato plantlets treated with ethylene showed severe leaf senescence symptoms such as epinasty, lack of growth, yellowing and axillary shoot formation. These observations indicate that apical dominance has been lost with ethylene treatment. The same experiment was repeated with different concentrations of LPE in the MS medium. Inclusion of 50 or 100 mg·L–1 of LPE in the medium mitigated the damage normally caused by applied ethylene. Leaves of plantlets exposed simultaneously to LPE and ethylene had significantly higher chlorophyll content and more healthy leaves compared to plantlets grown on medium lacking LPE. Results of this study suggest that LPE may have the potential to retard ethylene-promoted leaf senescence and may mitigate ethylene induced loss in apical dominance of micropropagated potato plantlets.