Studies of the metabolism of 3-phenoxybenzoic acid in plants

The metabolism of ¹⁴C-labeled 3-phenoxybenzoic acid, PBA, has been studied in cotton, vine, broad bean, soya bean, pea, lettuce, and tomato, using abscised leaves. PBA was converted into a range of polar products by esterification with glucose (in cotton and other species) and with glucosylarabinose and glucosylxylose (especially in vine leaves). Uptake of the glucose ester itself by cotton leaves also led to conversion into a more polar conjugate, probably the glucosylarabinose ester, which was not detectable following uptake of PBA. When PBA was applied to the surface of intact cotton leaves, it was slowly converted into products similar to those above.