3.7. Effects of ethylene on the column: protein levels, total
peptidase activity, and the transcript abundance of Den-Cys1
From day 3 after the end of the ethylene treatment, the levels
of water-soluble and water-insoluble protein in the column were
lower than in the untreated controls, although the differenceswere
rather small (Fig. 4). A decrease in protein levels, comparing day 1
and day 5, was only found in water-insoluble protein in the column
of ethylene-treated flowers (Fig.4; statistical not shown). A
large rise was observed in peptidase activity, on day 4 after the end
of ethylene treatment (Fig. 5). Using semi-quantitative RT-PCR, an
increase in the abundance of the DenCys1 transcript was observed
in the column, by the end of ethylene treatment. The transcript
abundance, as found on gels, seemed to have lowered by day 2, but
had clearly increased again by day 5 (Fig. 3B). Quantitative RT-PCR
showed little increase in transcript abundance on day 1 and 2, but
showed a large increase on day 5 (Fig. 3D).