Effect of ethrel on apoptosis in carrot protoplasts

In recent years, apoptosis has been reported to exist in plants during normal development and in response to stress. However, little is known about the relation of hormones to this form of programmed cell death. Here, we report examination of characteristics of apoptosis in carrot protoplasts induced by ethylene evolved from ethrel (2-chloroethylphosphonic acid). Nucleus condensation and DNA ladders were observed, and neutral comet assay, which detects DNA cleavage, also provided evidence that ethrel treatment resulted in nuclear DNA fragmentation. Strikingly, a close correlation between the incidence of DNA comets and the percentage of apoptotic protoplasts was shown in ethrel-treated carrot protoplasts. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that ethylene is an active inducer of apoptosis in carrot protoplasts, and that ethylene-induced plant cell death showed characteristics similar to those of apoptosis in animals.