Atrazine Injury: Relationship to Metabolism, Substrate Level, and Secondary Factors

Abstract

Aseptic cultures of isolated corn (Zea maysL. ‘North Dakota KE47101′) shoots and roots and soybean [Glycine max(L.) Merr. ‘Hawkeye’] seedlings absorbed and metabolized atrazine [2-chloro-4-(ethylamino)-6-(isopropylamino)-s-triazine] similarly to plants grown and treated in nutrient solution under non-sterile conditions. Atrazine injured susceptible soybean seedlings more rapidly than can be explained on the basis of starvation alone. It is postulated that the herbicidal activity of atrazine is partly due to toxic secondary factor(s) which may be of biochemical or photochemical origin. The effect of the toxic secondary factor(s) was reversed by added sucrose independent of light.