During the course of development a spectrum of organs are shed from a plant [1]. Although the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which the abscission process is brought about have yet to be ascertained, the final event is the dissolution of the cell wall at the site where shedding takes place. A major difficulty encountered when studying abscission is that only a few rows of cells may undergo separation. In bean, there is convincing evidence that only one or two rows of cells may contribute to the loss of the primary leaf [2] while in tomato flowers there may be 5-10 rows of cells involved in the process [3]. In an attempt to examine the molecular changes which lead to abscission we have chosen to study the shedding of leaflets in Sambucus nigra [4,5,6]. This is a well characterised system and as the leaflet abscission zone is a composite of three sites where cell separation takes place, as many as 50 rows of cells may be involved in the process [7]. Moreover, leaflet abscission can be induced in approximately 24 hours by exposure to ethylene (10 μ1 1-1) and the use of explants leads to a close degree of synchronisation of the process [5].