Ethylene treated Arabidopsis roots

Flooded plants experience impaired gas diffusion underwater, leading to oxygen deprivation (hypoxia) stress. The volatile plant hormone ethylene is rapidly trapped in submerged plant cells and is instrumental for enhanced metabolic hypoxia acclimation. However, the precise mechanisms underpinning ethylene-enhanced hypoxia survival remain unclear. We studied the effect of ethylene pre-treatment on hypoxia survival of primary Arabidopsis thaliana root tips.