Wounding Stimulates Cyanide-sensitive Respiration in the Highly Cyanide-resistant Leaves of Bryophyllum tubiflorum Harv.

The rate of respiration in sectioned leaves of Bryophyllum tubiflorum Harv. increases with decreasing section thickness. The rates of uninhibited respiration in 2- and 8-millimeter-thick sections are 74 and 46 microliters of O(2) per gram fresh weight of unruptured tissue per hour at 20 C, whereas the rate in the presence of cyanide is 31 microliters of O(2) in each case. The rates are unaffected by salicylhydroxamic acid, but cyanide and salicylhydroxamic acid together completely eliminate O(2) uptake. The capacity of the alternative respiratory pathway is thus initially high (estimated at 84% of the uninhibited respiratory rate in whole leaves) and remains constant but probably unexpressed subsequent to the rapid induction of wound respiration.