The basis for the safening of clomazone by phorate insecticide in cotton and inhibitors of cytochrome P450s

Clomazone may be safely used in cotton to manage weeds when applied following treatments of the organophosphate insecticides phorate or disulfoton. The loss of chlorophyll and carotenoids with 6 days of 100 nM clomazone treatment of cotton seedlings was partially prevented with phorate in hydroponic solution in a rate-dependent manner. In a study to examine the timing of safening from a one-day clomazone (100 nM) treatment, maximum safening was achieved when phorate (50 μM) was applied the same day as clomazone. Phorate decreased metabolism of ¹⁴C-clomazone to polar metabolites in excised cotton shoots and shoots of intact cotton plants. Microsomal studies of corn shoots showed an NADPH-dependent/cytochrome P450 reaction was inhibited by phorate. Additional studies with corn microsomes, corn seedlings and cotton seedlings supported the basis of clomazone safening is the inhibition of toxic clomazone metabolism by P450 inhibitors.     

Effect of herbicide clomazone on photosynthetic processes in primary barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) leaves

The effect of pre-emergently applied herbicide clomazone on the photosynthetic apparatus of primary barley leaves (Hordeum vulgare L.) was studied. Clomazone application caused a reduction in chlorophyll (a+b) and carotenoid levels that was accompanied by a decline in the content of light harvesting complexes as judged from the increasing chlorophyll a/b ratio. The pigment reduction also resulted in changes in 77 K chlorophyll fluorescence emission spectra indicating lower chlorophyll (Chl) fluorescence reabsorption and absence of the long-wavelength emission forms of photosystem I. The maximal photochemical yield of photosystem II (PSII) and the reoxidation kinetics of the primary quinone acceptor Q_A⁻ were not significantly influenced by clomazone. A higher initial slope of Chl fluorescence rise in the Chl fluorescence induction kinetic indicated an increased delivery of excitations to PSII. Simultaneously, analysis of the Chl fluorescence quenching revealed that clomazone reduced function of the electron transport chain behind PSII. The decrease in the saturation rates of CO₂ assimilation paralleled the decrease of the Chl content and has been suggested to be caused by a suppressed number of the electron transport chains in the thylakoid membranes or by their decreased functionality. The obtained results are discussed in view of physiological similarity of the clomazone effect with changes of photosynthetic apparatus during photoadaptation.     

植物乙酰乳酸合成酶抑制剂作用方式及机理研究进展

以拟南芥Arabidopsis thaliana等植物为主要对象,系统评述了乙酰乳酸合成酶(ALS)抑制剂在作用靶标、选择性机制、毒性机理及化学杀雄作用等方面的研究进展。ALS是磺酰脲类、咪唑啉酮类等多种除草剂的共同作用靶标,最新研究又发现苯磺隆、酰嘧磺隆等多种ALS抑制剂可作为敏感植物的化学杀雄剂。目前该研究领域的薄弱环节是ALS抑制剂的毒性机理,先后提出了支链氨基酸饥饿、核酸合成受阻、ALS底物积累、养分转运障碍、无氧呼吸等假说,但均未能被证实。借助高通量的代谢组学、转录组学、蛋白质组学检测技术将能够更全面地揭示ALS抑制剂的生理生化效应,为研究其毒性机理提供新证据。     

Antifungal activity and mode of action of Galla rhois-derived phenolics against phytopathogenic fungi

Antifungal activity and target sites of methanolic extract and its constituents from the gall (Galla rhois) caused by the Chinese sumac aphid, Schlechtendalia chinensis, on the nutgall sumac tree, Rhus javanica, were examined. In tests with six phytopathogenic fungi using a whole plant bioassay, the gall extract exhibited good antifungal activity. The biologically active constituents isolated from Galla rhois were characterized as the phenolics methyl gallate and gallic acid by spectroscopic analyses. Methyl gallate was highly suppressive to Magnaporthe grisea, Botrytis cinerea, and Puccinia recondita, whereas gallic acid exhibited good antifungal activity against M. grisea and Erysiphe graminis. These two compounds were ineffective against rice sheath blight caused by Rhizoctonia solani. Methyl gallate did not adversely affect conidial germination (94%) but significantly inhibited appressorium formation (7%) of M. grisea. Moderate and significant inhibition of conidial germination (64%) and appressorium formation (5%) of M. grisea, respectively, were observed with gallic acid. In complementation tests with M. grisea, cAMP and 1,16-hexadecanediol restored significantly and slightly appressorium formation inhibited by methyl gallate and gallic acid, respectively. These results indicate that methyl gallate and gallic acid acted on a cAMP-related signaling pathway regulating appressorium formation in M. grisea.     

Protoporphyrinogen IX-oxidizing activities involved in the mode of action of a new compound N-[4-chloro-2-fluoro-5-{3-(2-fluorophenyl)-5-methyl-4,5-dihydroisoxazol-5-yl-methoxy}-phenyl]-3,4,5,6-tetrahydrophthalimide

N-[4-Chloro-2-fluoro-5-{3-(2-fluorophenyl)-5-methyl-4,5-dihydroisoxazol-5-yl-methoxy}-phenyl]-3,4,5,6-tetrahydrophthalimide (EK-5385) is an experimental substituted bicyclic herbicide. Soil-applied EK-5385 showed good rice selectivity and potent herbicidal activity on barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crus-galli var. oryzicola) at rates of 3.9-250 g a.i./ha. Barnyardgrass was exhibited normal growth under dark condition, however, the growth of shoot and root was severely inhibited under light condition (14/10 h of light/dark, 50 μmol/m²/s of photosynthetically active radiation) when treated with EK-5385, oxadiazon, and oxadiargyl. IC₅₀ of EK-5385 and oxadiargyl to chlorophyll loss in cucumber cotyledons was approximately 0.3 and 0.7 μM, respectively. IC₅₀ of EK-5385 and oxadiargyl to carotenoids loss in cucumber cotyledons was about 0.26 and 0.1 μM, respectively. IC₅₀ concentration of EK-5385 and oxadiargyl on Protox activity was approximately 5.5 and 8 nM, respectively. Cellular leakage occurred without lag period from cucumber leaf squares treated with 1 μM of EK-5385 and oxadiargyl under light exposure.     

Probing mode of action in plant cell cycle by the herbicide endothall, a protein phosphatase inhibitor

The mode of action of endothall, an herbicide which was reported to inhibit plant protein phosphatases 1 (PP1) and 2A (PP2A), was investigated. For initial characterization, a series of bioassays was used for comprehensive physiological profiling of endothall effects which suggested a phytotoxic mode of action similar to mitotic disrupter herbicides. Unlike known microtubule disrupters, endothall did not inhibit soybean tubulin polymerization in vitro. As shown in meristematic corn root tips, endothall distorted the orientation of cell division plane and microtubule spindle structures which led to cell cycle arrest in prometaphase. In tobacco BY-2 cells, malformed spindles together with prometaphase arrest of nuclei and abnormal perinuclear microtubule patterns were detected as early as 4 h of endothall treatment. These effects were also observed after treatment with other protein phosphatase inhibitors, cantharidin and okadaic acid, which phenocopied the mitotic changes described in tonneau1 (ton1) and tonneau2 (ton2) Arabidopsis mutants. These mutants are defective in TONNEAU2 (TON2) protein, a regulatory subunit of PP2A, which governs cell division plane and microtubule orientation. Therefore, PP2A/TON2 phosphatase complex is suggested to be an in planta molecular target of endothall. However, in BY-2 cells, additional effects of endothall, including inhibition of S-phase initiation and DNA synthesis, detected by 5-ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine (EdU) incorporation, and condensed nuclei arrested in late mitosis were observed which were not reported in Arabidopsiston1 and ton2 mutants. This result indicates that two additional checkpoints in cell cycle were blocked by endothall which are probably not associated with TON2-pathway inhibition. Possibly, inhibition of PP1 and/or other PP2A protein phosphatases are involved in the regulation of these cell cycle phenomena.