Ethanol metabolism in calluses of several selected plant species on two typical plant-growth-regulator balanced media

For investigation on the characteristics of ethanol metabolism in tissues of different plant species, calluses from eight selected plant species were cultured on medium supplemented with ethanol in tightly sealed culture flasks. Changes of the ethanol level were detected by gas chromatography. During the culture period, the calluses of tobacco, potato and petunia were, able to catabolize exogenous ethanol, resulting in the prominent decline of the ethanol level in the medium. The calluses of melon and peanut were also able to catabolize thanol but with lower efficiency. The other three calluses of carrot, soybean and rice did not catabolize ethanol but instead produced small to large amount of ethanol, resulting in the increase of the ethanol level in the media. It was also found that changing the balance between auxin and cytokinin could influence only the ethanol metabolism efficiency but could not change the metabolism patterns on ethanol of the cultured calluses. It can be concluded that, ethanol metabolism pattern of calluses in cultures is an innate physiological characteristic of the respective plant species. Foundation item: Supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (No. 950406) Biography: Yang Yue-sheng (1957-), male, Professor, research direction: plant physiology and plant cell engineering.