THE EFFECT OF ETHYLENE AND OF INHIBITORS OF PROTEIN AND NUCLEIC-ACID SYNTHESES ON DORMANCY BREAK AND SUBSEQUENT SPROUT GROWTH

Cycloheximide inhibited dormancy break and subsequent sprout growth of potato buds in the presence or absence of ethylene. Dormancy break was relatively insensitive to treatment with actinomycin D, in marked contrast to the inhibition observed with cycloheximide; however, sprout elongation was inhibited by actinomycin D treatment. This suggests that dormancy release may depend on protein synthesis but not on nucleic acid synthesis. Total protein analysis revealed that two high molecular weight polypeptide bands appeared during dormancy break in the presence or absence of ethylene. The response was consistent in the two cultivars used in this study. Cycloheximide treatment blocked the synthesis of any new polypeptides in response to ethylene in the tuber tissue. This indicates that dormancy release of potato buds may be associated with the regulation of protein synthesis.