Abstract
Furano-terpene production in sweet potato root tissue treated with chemicals, such as HgCl2, L-alanine and CAMP was inhibited by antibiotics, such as cycloheximide, blasticidin S, puromycin and chloramphenicol when the antibiotics were administered to the tissue immediately after cutting. However furano-terpene production was not inhibited by antibiotics when they were administered to the 18-hr incubated cut tissue together with chemical elicitors of furano-terpene production. Furano-terpenes were accumulated in the tissue in 5 hr after HgCl2 treatment to the 18hr incubated cut tissue and the content reached a maximum in lO hr and then decreased gradually. The rate of protein synthesis in the tissue was enhanced in 6 hr after cutting and decreased by 15 hr, then reached a constant rate. HgCl2 treatment to the 24-hr incubated cut tissue did not affect the rate of protein synthesis but cycloheximide administered to the tissue with HgCl2 strongly suppressed the rate of protein synthesis. These data suggest that protein synthesis is induced by cutting, and furano-terpene production is induced by HgCl2 treatment to the cut and incubated tissue without synthesis of the bulk protein.
