Effect of benzoylprop‐ethyl on uptake, transport and metabolism of 32P in Avena fatua L. and Triticum aestivum L.

Abstract

Summary:The effect of benzoylprop‐ethyl on plant weight, root uptake, transport and metabolism of 32P in wild oat and wheat plants was examined 4 h, 1,3 and 9 days after treatment. The fresh weight of wild oat plants was significantly reduced, due to herbicide action only, by day 9 after treatment. By day 3, shoot weight was decreased while root weight was significantly increased by 47%. No significant changes in plant weight were caused by benzoylprop‐ethyl in wheat plants.Uptake of 32P by treated wild oat plants decreased by 39% compared with the control, by day 9, after an initial increase; uptake of 32P was not significantly influenced in wheat plants. By day 1 transport of 32P to the shoots was significantly reduced in wild oat plants by 34%, whereas in wheat plants it was significantly increased by 35%.Metabolism of 32P was already hampered in wild oat plants 4 h after treatment. The content of 32P was reduced on the first two sampling dates in both the roots and shoots of treated plants in all fractions except in DNA in the shoots. On day 3, this decrease was apparent especially in organic, lipidic and nucleic acid fractions in the shoots; incorporation of 32P into lipidic and RNA fractions was significantly inhibited on day 9 in both the roots and shoots of treated wild oat plants. Wheat plants responded most strongly to benzyoylprop‐ethyl on day 1 after treatment, when 32P incorporation into all fractions except DNA was hampered. Differences between treated and control wheat plants gradually levelled off on days 3 and 9 after treatment.