When potato tubers (Solanum tuberosum L.) are treated with Rindite (ethylene chlorohydrin, ethylene dichloride, carbon tetrachloride, 7/3/1, v/v/v) for 2 d, and then stored at 20°C, important changes in enzymatic activities are observed in mitochondrial as well as in microsomal fractions isolated from these tubers. In mitochondria isolated from Rindite-treated tubers, the oxidation ofsuccinate was more active and more resistant to cyanide than in mitochondria from untreated tubers. The functioning of a cyanide-resistant, SHAM-sensitive oxidative activity was similar to that observed after an ageing treatment of tuber slices or an ethylene treatment of whole tubers. However, in the latter case, changes in oxidative properties or cyanide-resistance were less important. Moreover, all the observed changes disappeared after 4 d of storage. The NADH-femcyanide reductase and NADHcytochrome c reductase activities of microsomal fractions isolated from Rindite-treated tubers increased after 1 d or 4 d of storage, relative to the activities of untreated tubers. Moreover, the oleatedesaturase activity, which could not be detccted in microsomes prepared from untreated tubers, was high in microsomes from treated tubers stored for 1 d and 4 d, and then the activity decreased. The induction of an oleatedesaturase activity by Rindite treatment can be compared to the effect of the ageing treatment on tuber slices. The enhancement of oleatedesaturase activity was linked to an increase in cytochrome b5content of microsomes of treated tubers. However, all these changes were not observed when whole tubers were treated with ethylene alone.
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Bonnerot et al. (1985) studied this question.