Daffodil flower delay senescence in cut Iris flowers

Visible symptoms of tepal senescence in cut Iris x hollandica (cv. Blue Magic) flowers were delayed by placing one cut daffodil flower (Narcissus pseudonarcissus, cv. Carlton) in the same vase. Addition of mucilage, exuded by daffodil stems, to the vase water had the same effect as the flowering daf...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Phytochemistry (Oxford) 2004, Vol.65 (5)
Main Authors: Doorn, W.G., van, Sinz, A, Tomassen, M.M.M
Format: Article
Language:
Subjects:
bulbs
cysteine protease
enzymes
gene-expression
narciclasine
programmed cell-death
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Visible symptoms of tepal senescence in cut Iris x hollandica (cv. Blue Magic) flowers were delayed by placing one cut daffodil flower (Narcissus pseudonarcissus, cv. Carlton) in the same vase. Addition of mucilage, exuded by daffodil stems, to the vase water had the same effect as the flowering daffodil stem. The active compound in the mucilage was identified as narciclasine (using LC/MS, GC/MS, H-1 and C-13-NMR, and comparison with an authentic sample of narciclasine). The delay of senescence, either by mucilage or purified narciclasine, was correlated with a delayed increase in protease activity, and with a considerable reduction of maximum protease activity. Narciclasine did not affect in vitro protease activity, but is known to inhibit protein synthesis at the ribosomal level. Its effects on senescence and protease activity were similar to those of cycloheximide (CHX), another inhibitor of protein synthesis, but the effective narciclasine concentration was about 100 times lower than that of CHX. It is concluded that the delay of Iris tepal senescence by daffodil stems is due to narciclasine in daffodil mucilage, which apparently inhibits the synthesis of proteins involved in senescence. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
ISSN:0031-9422
1873-3700