The occurrence of enzymes associated with bean leaf abscission was investigated in bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) flower reproductive organs in which catabolic cell wall events are essential during anther and pistil development. Cellulase activity was detected in high levels in both pistil and anthers of bean flowers before anthesis. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis followed by immunoblotting with 9.5 cellulase antibody identified a protein in anthers and pistil with the same size (51 kilodaltons) and serologically closely related to the abscission cellulase. The accumulation of 9.5 cellulase protein in the anther is developmentally regulated and increases from undetectable levels at very young stages of anther development to high levels as the anther matures. In the pistil, the 9.5 cellulase was localized in the upper part of the pistil where the stigma and the stylar neck reside and was detected in the youngest developmental stage analyzed. Antibodies against basic chitinase, which accumulates to high levels in abscission zones after exposure to ethylene, identified a protein with the same size (33 kilodaltons) and serologically closely related, in both anthers and upper portion of the pistil. In contrast, a 45-kilodalton protein and the basic beta-1,3-glucanase associated with abscission were undetected in bean reproductive organs. Interestingly, beta-1,3-glucanase activity was detected in young bean anthers and decreased at anthesis, but the anther beta-1,3-glucanase is serologically unrelated to the basic beta-1,3-glucanase. Thus, it appears that the basic cellulase and chitinase occur in combination in many plant processes that require major cell wall disruption, whereas hemicellulases such as beta-1,3-glucanase are specific to each process.