The Effect of Metabolic Inhibitors on Herbicide Movement in Plants

Abstract

Pretreatment of bean (Phaseolus vulgarisL.) petiole sections with one of several metabolic inhibitors greatly stimulated the movement of 3-amino-2,5-dichlorobenzoic acid (amiben) and (2,4-dichlorophenoxy)acetic acid (2,4-D). However, the movement of 3-amino-s-triazole (amitrole), 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1-methylurea (linuron), and isopropylm-chlorocarbanilate (chlorpropham) was stimulated only slightly or not at all. The basipetal movement of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) was inhibited by concentrations of 2-sec-butyl-4,6-dinitrophenol (dinoseb) which stimulated respiration (5 × 10−7M to 5 × 10−8M). Acropetal movement was stimulated by dinoseb concentrations greater than 10−5M. Translocation of root-applied amiben and 2,4-D to the stems and leaves of whole plants of bean, squash (Curcurbita pepoL.), and cucumber (Cucumis sativusL.) was stimulated by dinoseb root applications only at concentrations which were highly injurious to the plants. Amiben, 2,4-D, and their metabolites were extracted from dinosebtreated and untreated tissues. The stem exudate from cucumber plants fed amiben and 2,4-D via the roots contained primarily the parent compounds, which indicates that the parent compounds are the primary components translocated through the xylem.