Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2001 Sep;151(3):607-612.
doi: 10.1046/j.0028-646x.2001.00218.x.

Carbohydrate-ethanol transition in cereal grains under anoxia

Lorenzo Guglielminetti  1 , Héctor Abel Busilacchi  1   2 , Pierdomenico Perata  3 , Amedeo Alpi  1
Affiliations
Free article

Carbohydrate-ethanol transition in cereal grains under anoxia

Lorenzo Guglielminetti et al. New Phytol. 2001 Sep.
Free article

Abstract

• Cereal grains differ greatly in their reponses to anaerobiosis. Here, the in vivo conversion of carbohydrates to ethanol and CO2 under anoxia is reported for three cereal grains. • The conversion of glucose, fructose or sucrose to ethanol under anaerobic conditions was investigated in rice (Oryza sativa), barley (Hordeum vulgare) and wheat (Triticum aestivum) grains; alcohol dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.1) and pyruvate decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.1) activities were also analysed under aerobic and anaerobic incubation. • Our data suggest that rice grains are able to produce ethanol under anoxia for the whole period of anoxic treatment, whereas barley and wheat grains can produce this terminal product of fermentation only during the first days of anaerobiosis. The level of enzymes involved in the fermentation pathway increases strongly under anoxic conditions in all three cereals. • Conversion of hexose to CO2 is nearly unaffected by anoxia in wheat, barley and rice, whereas only rice grains are able to degrade and utilize sucrose efficiently under anoxia. By contrast, wheat and barley do not utilize sucrose efficiently under anaerobic conditions.

Keywords: Hordeum vulgare (barley); Oryza sativa (rice); Triticum aestivum (wheat); alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH); anoxia; fermentation; pyruvate decarboxylase (PDC).

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Alpi A & Beevers H. 1983. Effects of O2 concentration on rice seedlings. Plant Physiology 71: 30-34.
    1. Atwell BJ & Greenway H. 1987. Carbohydrate metabolism of rice seedlings grown in oxygen deficient solution. Journal of Experimental Botany 188: 466-478.
    1. Bernt E & Gutman I. 1974. Ethanol. Determination with alcohol dehydrogenase and NAD. In: Bergmeyer HU, ed. Methods of enzymatic analysis. New York, USA: Academic Press, 1499-1505.
    1. Bouny JM & Saglio PH. 1996. Glycolytic flux and hexokinase activities in anoxic maize root tips acclimated by hypoxic pretreatment. Plant Physiology 111: 187-194.
    1. Dolferus R, Ellis M, De Bruxelles G, Trevaskis B, Hoeren F, Dennis ES, Peacock WJ. 1997. Strategies of genes action in Arabidopsis during hypoxia. Annals of Botany 79: 21-31.

LinkOut - more resources