Effects of Seiridium cardinale culture filtrate on ethylene production in Cupressus sempervirens L.

Exogenous ethylene production was determined in common cypress (Cupressus sempervirens) shoots cultured in vitro in the presence of canker-inducing Seiridium cardinale culture filtrates. Cypress clones 322 and 318, which show resistance to cortical canker, were found to produce higher amounts of ethylene as compared with non-infected control shoots, whereas susceptible clones 394 and 819 did not differ from the control in exogenous ethylene production, suggesting that differential ethylene production could be useful in early screening of cypress genotypes resistant to canker.