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Plants living riverside show diverse resistance responses to submergence. The promoted petiole elongation of semi-aquaitc plants, e.g., such as Ranunculus sceleratus and Rumex palustris, is one of the adaptive responses mediated by the plant hormone ethylene. The gaseous hormone is trapped in submerged plant tissues and enhances the petiole growth by increasing sensitivity of the tissues to some plant hormones including auxin. Due to the stimulated growth of petioles, the leaves finally reach the water surface and can respirate again. At the water surface, the accumulated ethylene diffuses out from the tissues to the air. As a result, the increased hormone sensitivity decreases again, and thus the growth rate reduces to the basal level as before. The increased auxin sensitivities by ethylene observed in Ranunculus sceleratus, revealed by the changes in the auxin dose-response curves, indicate the increase of affinities of the receptors to auxin. However, the molecular mechanism of the affinity regulation remains still largely unknown, because the identity of the auxin receptor is still unclear.
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