Effects of Kinetin and Proline on Enzyme Activities in Roots of Waterlogged Pisum sativum Plants

Abstract

Flooding greatly enhanced the activity of ADH and GPT in roots of pea plants. An increase was also noted in ethanol content, but malate and proline content remained unaffected. Glutamic acid content, on the other hand, doubled, and glycine and phenylalanine content decreased to half that of the control. The roots of flooded plants evolved 2.4 times more ethylene than the control plants. Treatment of waterlogged plants with kinetin relieved most of the effects of flooding on enzyme activity and ethanol content. Proline promoted the activity of GLDH, but significantly brought down the activities of ADH and GPT. Aeration of the flooded plants also resulted in the normalisation of most of the metabolic processes. The results indicate that both kinetin and proline can, to a very great extent, mitigate the metabolic effects of flooding in pea roots.