Oxygen Dependence of Elongation Growth and Oxygen Uptake in Maize Coleoptiles

Abstract

AbstractAuxin‐mediated elongation growth of maize coleoptile segments is inhibited by reducing the O2 concentration in the incubation medium to GT 100 μmol . 1−1. The half‐maximal elongation rate is reached at 40 μmol . 1−1 O2, i.e. about two orders of magnitude higher than with mitochondrial respiration. O2 uptake of the segments measured under similar conditions with an O2 electrode shows a very similar dependence on O2 concentration. Auxin increases O2 uptake by 5–10% when it induces growth. About 40% of the O2 uptake is insensitive to inhibition by KCN. Auxin has no effect on O2 uptake in the presence of KCN. The possibility that auxin‐mediated elongation growth depends on a KCN‐sensitive oxidative process, other than cytochrome c oxidase‐catalyzed respiration, is discussed.