Effect of Soil Temperature and Moisture on Glyphosate and Photoassimilate Distribution in Quackgrass (Agropyron repens)

Abstract

Experiments were conducted in growth chambers to evaluate the effect of soil temperature and soil moisture on the distribution of14C-photoassimilates and14C-glyphosate [N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine] in quackgrass [Agropyron repens(L.) Beauv. ♯3AGRRE]. When14C-glyphosate was applied to leaves, the radioactivity was less in the rhizome buds of plants exposed to 7-C soil temperature than in plants exposed to 12- and 18-C soil temperatures after 2 days. In plants with leaves exposed to14CO2, the radioactivity from14C-photoassimilates was greatest in rhizomes and rhizome buds of plants at the 12-C soil temperature. As soil moisture levels were decreased, uptake of C-glyphosate into leaves declined, and transport to the daughter shoots, rhizomes, and rhizome buds was reduced. The concentration of14C-photoassimilates in the rhizome system of water-stressed quackgrass plants was similar to that in nonstressed plants. This study shows that the patterns of glyphosate distribution differ from those of photoassimilate distribution in quackgrass plants exposed to water stress.